# LANCER: BATTLEGROUP - To Kill the Worthy King



## Tun Kai Poh (Sep 19, 2021)

*Prelude*

This is *Lancer: Battlegroup!*







> Against the stark black of deep space, the long silhouettes of capital ships drift in tightening gyres, training their guns and missile tubes on enemies hundreds of thousands of kilometers away. Inside their hushed command decks, officers listen to the whisper of the fleet legion as it relays trajectories, firing solutions, and impact probabilities. Dimly lit screens detail the progress of their own ships of the line: smaller pips describe the arcs of escort ships and wings of fighters, far distant, engaged in their own battle near the gyre's heart.
> 
> The stoic forward report, the panicked cry for help, the grim wink of a ship's light-pip blinking off the screen - none of that matters in this moment. With held breath, the officers wait for the order to fire, knowing that if they hit their target, they will kill it; but if they miss, they will surely die. This is combat between fleets in Lancer, a duel where one blow is enough to win a war...




So I've been running some Lancer: Battlegroup games recently, for two players, via PbP. We used the playtest version 1.96 rules (the full game isn't out yet).

Funded as part of the Role Kickstarter campaign last year, Lancer: Battlegroup is a roleplaying expansion and tactical fleet combat module for the Lancer TTRPG. Where Lancer focuses on individual mech pilots, Battlegroup is about commanding mighty battleships and carriers in deadly space combat. It's a game that creates stories of massive fleet engagements, about not just leadership, but also the collective efforts and discipline of thousands of crew united in battle. Where each attack wing of daring pilots is backed by the efforts of an army of flight technicians, where a single horrific hit from a spinal linear accelerator coherent beam cannon can wipe out hundreds of your loyal crew in an instant.

Update 2: Creator Spotlight: Massif Press & Lancer: Battlegroup! · Role: A New Kind of Platform For The RPG Community

Lancer Art preview from Utopie Selective: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/28lJ5x

Next: Character Creation!


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## Tun Kai Poh (Sep 19, 2021)

*Character Creation: Captain Caspian Var, Union Naval Corps*

Like in Lancer, the player character is defined by stats that affect narrative play, as well as stats for combat. You don't roll for these, and the first set of stats is assigned completely independent of the second; as such, there's no way for a player to min-max a character by minimizing their narrative stats to maximize their combat stats.

Caspian Var grew up on the factory world of Marshall as a member of the Creative elite of the planet. Inducted into the UNC at a young age as an honorable occupation for a highborn child, Var quickly proved his skills as an officer cadet and later as a line officer during the battles of Hierarch's Veld and Orpheus IX where he demonstrated calm under fire when his ship, the UNS-LS Lake Champlain, was struck by a Karrakin Nearlight Kill-Pack.

Now newly promoted to command of the UNS-BB Richard Wagner at the head of Battlegroup Splinter, Captain Caspian Var desires nothing more than to enforce the Union's goals on a Galaxy filled with squabbling corporations and petty tyrants that stand in the way. After all, without peace and order, there can be no progress or freedom.

Caspian's player is aiming to get Reputation: Scion for Caspian, which will give access to a number of the Reputation's advances, powerful special narrative abilities.

*Traits:*

Cool
Professional
Arrogant
These Traits provide positive (Cool, Professional) and negative (Arrogant) modifiers to the character's rolls. Using up a positive Trait means you cannot use it again until you use a negative trait to recharge your positive ones.

Unlike in Lancer, an individual character doesn't really have any stats that improve the combat performance of the fleet - although that will change after a couple of missions' worth of experience. Instead, they have equipment - a Battlegroup, to be precise.

So now it's time to spend 20 points on Caspian's battlegroup, which must consist of 2-6 Capital Ships.

*Battlegroup Splinter*

Flagship: UNS-BB Richard Wagner (14)
26 HP, 13 Defense, 1d6+2 Interdiction

Hull - FKS Calendula Class Battlecruiser (7)
Superheavy Weapon - Spinal Petajoule Kinetic (2)
Superheavy Weapon - Spinal Petajoule Kinetic (2)
Primary Weapon - Dorsal Razorback Missiles (0)
System - "Sandstorm" Vanguard (3)
System - Veteran Crews (0)





For the flagship, the player has chosen what he calls "A bit of a meme build but its an experiment in throwing really dense objects really fast really far." This is a battleship with two slots for Superheavy weapons (other battleships only have one!) and the ability to Overcharge Superheavy weapons that use the Charge tag, pouring more energy into them than is normally advisable - at a cost of damaging the ship. For anyone who wants to power up enormous cannons over multiple rounds before unleashing them, this is what you take. In this case, Caspian's ship has two Spinal Petajoule Kinetics, which are basically giant railguns capable of punching through one or two ships with a single shot, effective anywhere between Range 5 (the maximum range) and Range 2 (Collapsing Range, one step up from Short Range).

The Primary weapon is a basic 4x10 missile array capable of doing a solid amount of damage, but taking multiple rounds to reach their targets - again, this is another example of how some of Battlegroup's weapons are an exercise in patience. If you launch missiles at, say, Range 3, the missiles will arrive at the Range 0 (enemy fleet) about 2 or 3 rounds later. Like in the X-Wing miniatures game, this is an example of a 0-cost upgrade. It's a baseline weapon you get to fill your slot with, if you can't afford a more powerful one.

Finally, the battleship has two Systems, representing other equipment that can modify the performance of the vessel. Veteran Crews provide a one-time re-roll on a missed attack, which can be recharged under a certain condition. "Sandstorm" Vanguard is a cluster of asteroids, shepherded with thruster systems, that can shield the battlegroup from incoming damage (by providing Overshield, the Lancer equivalent of Temporary Hit Points). Once per battle, the ship can take a Maneuver to slingshot a cluster of asteroids at an enemy Capital Ship for 10 damage, plus additional Area damage to the entire hostile battlegroup, plus a lingering debris effect that can hit more enemy ships that attempt certain types of movement (a complicated thing I'll explain later on). This is a powerful and unique upgrade - you can only have one in your battlegroup.

UNS-LS Björn Járnsiđa (6)
14 HP, 12 Defense

Hull - HA Turenne Class Frigate (4)
Auxiliary Weapon - Harbinger Confidence Lasers (1)
Auxiliary Weapon - Harbinger Confidence Lasers (1)
System - Predict/Overlay Shield Projector (0)

In the Lancer: Battlegroup setting, a Frigate is not a small ship - subline ships such as Cruisers, Destroyers and Corvettes are all smaller than this class. Frigates are merely the smallest Capital Ship class - they're still considered ships of the line, with powerful nearlight drives and capital-grade weapons, and they would be capable of being assigned for independent missions. Their classification harkens back to Napoleonic-era warships, where frigates were powerful enough to overcome anything smaller than a ship of the line, but fast and flexible enough to be used for scouting and other independent duties.

Caspian has chosen this Turenne to maximise the long-range sniping potential of Battlegroup Splinter. The twin banks of Harbinger Confidence Lasers are targeting lasers for long-cycle Charge guns like the Spinal Petajoule Kinetic, albeit powerful enough to blast small ships out of the sky. They contribute damage at long or extreme ranges for each round that the battlegroup's Charge weapons are powering up.

The Predict/Overlay Shield Projector is a one-use shield that can power up to stop a single shot from an enemy Superheavy weapon, and is more effective at Extreme range (Range 5) than at any other. Again, an upgrade that goes well with the Calendula's optimal fighting range.

Lastly, the Turenne has a special Trait, Active Defense, which gives the battlegroup +2 Interdiction against Payloads and Area damage whenever the frigate is assigned to Defensive Screen. This is a special tactic only available to frigates, providing cover for other ships and taking hits instead of the ship they are defending 50% of the time.

And that's the first player's battlegroup - at least, the starting version of it. Ships can get modified and given special Legacies as they go through a campaign. But this is certainly a game where the power level is much higher than normal. One battlegroup has the power to shape the destiny of entire planets...

Next time on Character Creation: The frontline slugger joins the fleet.


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## Tun Kai Poh (Sep 20, 2021)

*Character Creation: Captain Tabitha Saint-Germaine, Union Naval Corps*

In the Lancer universe, Cosmopolitans are those people who spend almost all of their lives on starships travelling at nearlight speeds through space. To non-Cosmopolitans, these people appear to never age over many centuries. This is because for long journeys, they spend a good deal of time in stasis. In addition, because of the relativistic speeds they travel at, time literally passes more slowly for them than it does for the vast majority of humanity dwelling on planets and in space habitats. This next character is one such individual.

Spaceborn and bred, Tabitha Saint-Germaine is the daughter of military officers serving aboard the Union's ships throughout the tumultuous years following the fall of the Second Committee and the rise of the Third. As such she has a certain perspective of humanity that is both idealistic and pragmatic.

Showing a strong aptitude for command and the life of a cosmopolitan spacer, Tabitha was specially selected for induction in the Union Naval Corps and has thrived there since, seeing service through the ranks aboard corvettes, destroyers, cruisers, frigates and now, her own command of the UNS-BB Nikolai Bukharin.

With the weight of her heritage and the expectations of her command on her shoulders, Captain Tabitha Saint-Germaine seeks her destiny among the stars that have been the unchanging constant amidst the tempestuous sea of change that is human existence.

*Traits:*

Commanding
Brilliant
Idealistic
Tabitha will be taking advances along the Beacon Reputation track.

*Battlegroup Eland (20 points)*

Flagship: UNS-BB Nikolai Bukharin (11)
31 HP, 12 Defense, 1d6+2 Interdiction

Hull - GMS Thoreau Class Battleship (7)
Superheavy Weapon - 3x3 Block Short-Spool Cannons (2)
Primary Weapon - Heavy Kinetic Batteries (1)
Primary Weapon - Gemini Laser Array (1)
Auxiliary Weapon - Flyswatter Missiles (0)
Auxiliary Weapon - Flyswatter Missiles (0)
System - Bulwark Redundancies (0)

The Bukharin is the frontline tank of the fleet, and it can deal out consistently damaging barrages as it closes the distance with the enemy.

The Thoreau class battleship exists as a reminder of a more warlike time in Union's history. The imperialistic Second Committee was overthrown five centuries ago, its policies overturned and replaced with a more benign hegemony, but this powerful symbol of SecComm's reign, updated with more modern technology, is simply too useful to retire. The Thoreau can fire an additional Auxiliary Weapon while advancing towards the enemy, and once per battle, it can use the Unleash Hell! Maneuver to fire twice as many weapons as usual.

Tabitha has ordered the Bukharin armed with a powerful nine-barrel superheavy cannon block, long-ranged kinetic batteries, a dual-purpose offensive/defensive laser array, and a double loadout of auxiliary  missiles for shooting down small attack craft or mechs. In addition, the ship has been upgraded with Bulwark Redundancies, giving it 3 extra HP.

UNS-CV Shamokin Rising (9)
16 HP, 12 Defense

Hull - IPS-N Masauwu Class Heavy Carrier-Frame (6) with built-in discount for Wings/Escorts (-3)
Wing - Fighter Wing (1), 5 HP
Wing - Fighter Wing (1), 5 HP
Escort - Destroyer Escort (2), 8 HP
Escort - Destroyer Escort (2), 8 HP





Named for the 1877 Pennsylvania uprising in which railroad workers and miners protested starvation wages by major companies amid massacres by National Guard troops, the Shamokin Rising is a bulky carrier capable of deploying a mix of subline ships, fighters, bombers or mechs.

Tabitha's subordinate, Captain Elliot Meade, commands not only this carrier but also two squadrons of Peregrine fighter wings and the Custodio-class destroyer escorts Unicorn and Undine.

Battlegroups in the game are typically limited to only two actions per round, usually a Maneuver (which can fire some weapons) and a Tactic (used to give orders to one or two Wings, or one Escort). The Shamokin Rising has the Wolfpack Tactics Trait, which lets the battlegroup give an extra command to an Escort or Wing when it issues a command to an Escort, once per round. As a Carrier, it also gives a 3 point discount for buying Wings and Escorts, guaranteeing that you can get some useful units included on board.

While the Fighter Wings provide increased Interdiction for the battlegroup and can eliminate enemy Wings at close range, the Destroyers are very flexible medium-range Escorts capable of dealing additional Auxiliary Weapon damage during firing Maneuvers, and can be commanded to deal direct damage (no attack roll needed) against Capital Ships and Escorts. Each Destroyer Escort also has a once-per-battle Encirclement Tactic, which provides emergency movement for the battlegroup.

And that's about it for character creation. Next, we enter the growing conflict in the Dawnline Shore, in the year 5019u.


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## Tun Kai Poh (Sep 21, 2021)

*The Dawnline Shore*

`Attention, GROUPCOM. You're being sent out to *Lighthouse* Station to enforce a no-fly corridor for all non-Union military ships.

Baronic Unified Command is believed to have a number of fully automated Cogent Mind flagships operating beyond *Lighthouse* - boarding tactics are likely to be less effective against them. Also, you can expect to see greywash weapons and seeker mines in their loadout.

Enforce the no-fly corridor and keep those aggressor fleets away from the station.

Detailed briefing is in your NHP's inbox.`

The year is 5019u, and the Dawnline Shore is ablaze. For hundreds of years, two powerful rival states, Harrison Armory and the Karrakin Trade Baronies, have been engaged in a race for influence in the developing worlds of this resource-rich region. Union's Administrative Department currently provides infrastructure and administrative aid to local worlds while trying to use soft power to counterbalance the rapacious Armory and Baronies (which are technically both Union member states, but in practice act on their own expansionist interests).

Now, a proxy war between local governments in the Dawnline Shore has drawn in their superpower sponsors. The Armory's 1st Expeditionary Fleet engaged the Federal Karrakin Armada over New Creighton just days ago. In response, Union has shut the local blink gate, but cargo vessels and other shipping continue to pour in through the 2-year Long Rim route in realspace. Union mobilizes peacekeeping battlegroups to tamp down the flames of war, but the bloodshed has already begun.


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## Tun Kai Poh (Sep 22, 2021)

*Massacre*

Five days out from the neutral haven of Lighthouse Station, a Union Navy fleet (Battlegroups Eland and Splinter) investigates a fresh debris cloud. Automated distress beacons summoned the warships from their no-fly corridor duty, and they have emerged from nearlight to find a scene of silent carnage.

"Captain Var," reports the Wagner's NHP exec, "I have verified this ship as FKS Shirline, an unarmed transport bound for DS11 Gloria. It appears to have suffered catastrophic hits from long-spool weaponry. The Shamokin Rising is sending out search vessels, but the prospect of survivors appears slim."

"Noted, Bernd. Bring the crew up to Condition II and begin a sensor sweep of the area. Gunnery, warm up the guns." Var brings himself to attention, as is his habit on alert. "Helm, reduce speed to one third and bring us into overwatch for Captain St.Germaine. Comms, let her know what we are doing."

He turns his attention to the tactical display at the center of the bridge as the bridge crew rattle off their affirmatives, his eyes scanning it intently for any possible contacts. Then he pauses and taps his chin, thoughtfully.

"Bernd, Sensors - I want an analysis of the debris field and the local area. Report on any energy traces and weapons signatures."

"The Wagner will be holding short of the debris field, Captain. They will take overwatch while we comb for survivors."

Captain Tabitha Saint-Germaine nods silently at the voice of the Bukharin's NHP, Vera. Before her on her screen, she can see the Shamokin Rising's two fighter wings slowly sweeping the wreckage with the Unicorn and Undine standing close guard. Around the bridge, she can sense the tension in her crew.

"Vera, do pull of the logs to see if there's any additional information on the Shirline. Cargo and crew manifests, reported routes and schedules. I want to know where she came from, if she's where she's supposed to be and what she was supposed to be carrying. Have the search teams keep an eye out for any of the ship's data recorders. Beam what information we can get over to the Wagner as well."

The Wagner's crew falls into a familiar cadence of work as the ship takes up overwatch. Once a fleet has dropped out of nearlight, it will take days for the nearlight drives to spool up again. The fleet will remain ready for action while the S&R teams are doing their work.

Within a couple of hours, the first lifepod has been recovered, its battle-shocked survivors glad for fresh air, warmth and aid.

"It was a superdreadnought," they say. The PCV-DN Meritorious Rex. A kilometres-long Armory warship that intercepted the Shirline, hammered it with kinetic guns until it surrendered and drifted, waiting helplessly. The Armory ship waited hours for its massive spinal cannon to charge up before firing an executioner's shot, tearing the transport in two. 600 lives snuffed out, in a blatant war crime.

"The Shirline was a colony transport originally from Karrakin space, bringing civilian engineers and agronomists from Lighthouse to Gloria," reports Vera. "Registered under the House of Remembrance, commanded by Lord Captain Lucius Montaigne, a minor noble with a long record of loyal service. Cargo consisted of construction equipment, Schedule 3 printers and agricultural seed material. Our team is searching through recovered data banks for anything untoward, but so far, there's nothing suspicious."

"No attempt to board or recover anything? Just, blasting them apart for no apparent reason? That seems... oddly bloodthirsty." Tabitha, thinks out loud as she paces the bridge. "Inform fleet about this and then pull what you can on the Meritorious Rex - her background, her captain and more importantly, where she's stationed and what she's been up to. Meanwhile, continue the search. I want this debris field picked over with a fine tooth comb." 

"Our orders are to enforce the corridor, Tabitha." Caspian's clipped voice comes in over the holonet. "I understand your need to get to the bottom of this but that is not our primary objective. I suggest we withdraw back to our stations once S&R procedures are complete, our drives spooled and primary weapons discharged as necessary." 

"That won't be for at least a few more hours, Caspian. In the meantime, I want to know more about what happened here and if Fleet has any additional instructions given the circumstances. This sort of thing is cold, even for you." Caspian smirks at that.

"You wound me, Tabitha. Blood thirst and efficiency are two very different things. Which is why I suggest that we complete this operation as per standard procedure and then return to our stations rather than go haring off after a rogue dreadnought to soothe your sense of justice."

"Let's wait to see what fleet says, shall we?", Tabitha closes the comms with a curt nod. "Make sure the survivors are properly looked after," she says to Vera. "Why would a dreadnought come all the way out here just to blow up a civilian transport with no apparent military importance?"


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## Tun Kai Poh (Sep 23, 2021)

*Inbound. Uptime.*

Within the 1st Dawnline Response Fleet, Battlegroups Eland and Splinter are grouped under the 2nd Crisis Response Group under the veteran Vice Admiral Reality Gentle. Gentle, counter to her name, is furious at the vicious nature of the attack. Her response comes within minutes.

"Who does this son of a bitch think he is, committing war crimes within light days of our corridor? Captains, complete your sweep for survivors and then pull back to the corridor once you're under nearlight speed again. Mark the debris for DOJ/HR inspection - we'll send some hounds to sniff around as soon as we're able. F--- me, I've got to put up a flag on this Rex. There will be nowhere in the DLS for her captain to hide!"

The battlegroups don't get much respite before the next piece of business announces itself. "We have two Karrakin capital ships inbound," reports Bernd. "They appear to have come in from Baronic territory around DS11 Gloria, headed for Lighthouse through the no-fly corridor. But they've diverted, presumably to investigate the distress call here."

And shortly after, the inbound ships drop out of nearlight, just hours short of extreme weapons range, and begin maneuvers.

"Confirmed Cogent Mind vessels, not responding to our hails," says Vera to Tabitha. "We've given them ample warning. They don't seem to care that we're carrying a dozen Karrakin survivors of the massacre. High confidence of moving to engagement. We should be in scope range within a day - and unfortunately not all of our drives will be spooled up before then. Unfortunately for them, that is. So much for these vaunted solid-state intelligences." The NHP emotes a smirk on their holographic face. Is that...arrogance? Smug superiority? GRANDMOTHER SPIDER NHPs are known for reliability and stability, but Vera has grown to become a rather confident digital demon in their time serving the fleet.

_As per the rulebook:_


> _Battlegroup is all about the engagement. Pre-battle positioning, acceleration and deceleration, chasing down enemy fleets, navigation from one’s deployment zone to the battle line — all of that is assumed to have already happened by the time the first dice are rolled. Battlegroup is about the moments where the unpredictability gap is about to close — and the climax when it does._



_
The player battlegroups are going into an engagement with an equal number of enemy Battlegroups, each consisting of a Cogent Mind vessel with attached escorts. The players deliberate on which of their ships carries the Karrakin survivors, then choose their Uptime Actions.

Survivors will be placed aboard the USN-BB Richard Wagner.

Uptime is what cosmonauts call non-stasis time, when crews have been cycled up into subjective time, to engage in training, maintenance and pre-theater operations. Each player may choose an Uptime Action in an attempt to gain certain strategic or tactical benefits before going into battle.

Tabitha's player chooses Set Nominal Posture, which affects the starting deployment of the ships under command. Battlegroup Eland will begin engagement from Long Range (range 4).

For Battlegroup Splinter, the Uptime Action is Consult Gunnery and Engineering, in an effort to gain tactical benefits related to weapons and attacks. Caspian rolls 3 on a d20, which is a failure. This means his battlegroup only gets a minor effect: +1 Accuracy dice to one single-target attack roll this engagement._

After an hour, as the shuttle carrying the survivors of the Shirline dock with the Wagner, Chief Gunnery Officer Samantha Bryant grimaces at her screen, then looks up at Captain Var.

"Engineering says that they cannot boost the charge to either of the weapons any further at this point. I've run the calculations and tried to fine-tune the charge rails but all I can give you is a little finer range control on our starboard SPK."

"Unfortunate", Caspian shrugs with a twinge of irritation, "Carry on then."

He turns back to the holoscreen as the energy signatures of the oncoming Karrakin battlegroups come into greater and greater focus.

"All hands prepare to engage."





_Lancer: Battlegroup art preview from Utopie Selective: __https://www.artstation.com/artwork/nYOBrK_

Next: Two fleets stand before you.


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## Tun Kai Poh (Sep 24, 2021)

*Two Fleets*

As the engagement begins, all ship NHPs network together through the Omninet to form the fleet legion, a superintelligent composite subjectivity capable of managing the information and systems of the entire fleet.

The fleet legion, Aegis, lays out all known data on the two opposing fleets for all captains to see.

_The two fleets:_

*2nd Crisis Response Group (Union Navy)*
_
Battlegroup Eland (Range 4)
Interdiction 1d6+2
UNS-BB Nikolai Bukharin (31 HP)
UNS-CV Shamokin Rising (16 HP)_

_2x Fighter Wing (5 HP, 5 HP)_
_Destroyer Unicorn (8 HP)_
_Destroyer Undine (8 HP)_
_
Battlegroup Splinter (Range 5)
Interdiction: 1d6+2
UNS-BB Richard Wagner (26 HP)
UNS-LS Björn Járnsiđa (14 HP)

*Cogent Mind Fleet (Karrakin Trade Baronies)*

Battlegroup Denver (Gyre Center)
Interdiction: 1d6
Cornicen (25 HP)_

_2x Battlethread (10 HP, 10 HP)_
_Endless Cosmonaut (6 HP)_
_
Battlegroup Elvis (Gyre Center)
Interdiction: 2d6
Hivequeen (30 HP)_

_Diluvia (18 HP)_
_2x Starfield Furies (10 HP, 10 HP)_

_4x Fighter Wing (5 HP, 5 HP, 5 HP, 5 HP)_
_2x Bomber Wing (6 HP, 6 HP)_
_
The Union fleet is facing solid-state Cogent Mind warships, which means they are immune to critical hits and harder to attack in the Boarding Step. All automated. All machine.

The Cornicen is armed with greywash nanomunitions that inflict ongoing damage, as well as Achiral Abolition, a powerful Legionspace weapon. Battlethreads provide off-board tactical processing power to their flagship, which means better maneuvering, target locks and range band manipulation abilities. The Endless Cosmonaut is a strange enemy mech Ace with paracausal time loop powers that allow it to come back after it dies!

The other NPC battlegroup is led by a massive Hivequeen, a drone control ship with a lot of abilities involving target locks, such as missiles and boarding drones. It's accompanied by Diluvia, a vast swarm of drones that sacrifice themselves for offensive and defensive effects (including ongoing damage), and two Starfield Furies, escort carriers filled with short-ranged fighters and bombers.

Each Starfield Fury hosts 2 Fighter Wings and 1 Bomber Wing, so if it is taken out, its Wings immediately drop out of the fight. Each NPC Escort, plus the Ace, can transfer to another Flagship if their own is destroyed, although one Escort of the destroying player's choice is also destroyed in the process.

From the rulebook:_


> The Cornicen is a solid-state flagship with no organic personnel, managed by a Cogent Mind, a new series of dramatically more powerful comp/cons produced by the Janus Combine, a scientific foundation devoted to the development of parasubjective strategic solutions. The Janus Combine is based on the House of Water’s homeworld, Umara, and is one of Water’s many private/public development ventures devoted towards the expansion of parallel-track “mind” systems.
> 
> The Janus Combine developed Cornicens as vehicles for their Cogent Mind warprocessors. Distinct from Deimosian NHPs, Cogents are more conventional — though still incredibly powerful — machine minds, akin to an end-state evolution of the comp/con, coupled with some of the more unique interpretations of legacy machine minds. Their freeform processing without fear of cascade provides a window, then, into what humanity could have become.



"The Cornicen is perhaps the more dangerous of the two flagships," advises the fleet legion, as holographic diagrams of the battleship appear in the middle of the CIC. "Its No-Repro Munitions can deliver disruptive greywash payloads to targets within scope range. Its Legionspace primary weapon, Achiral Abolition, will severely degrade fleetmind connections and fleet efficiency, and can be effective anywhere from long to collapsing ranges, but reloading time is quite long."



> The Janus Combine’s Battlethread Solid-State Escorts are “appendage” vessels, meant to pair with their Cornicen Flagship PSS to create a holistic strategic ecosystem — a group of ships that function as a single inorganic mind. Though they can be paired with a wide variety of capital ship types, the Janus Combine is sparing with their distribution, and so they remain an uncommon sight in most fleets for now.



"These support ships were designed to maximise maneuvering and targeting capabilities for their flagship - they're solid-state ships much like their Cornicen brethren, and while theoretically unarmed, they can be ejected as last-ditch superheavy missile payloads once they are too heavily damaged to function."

The tiny speck flitting ahead of the Cornicen should not be of sufficient concern for the fleet legion to mention - and yet! The single mounted chassis emits an alarming amount of exotic radiation - including particles that should not exist under natural physical laws. The target profile matches several others that have been destroyed in engagements over the past decade, and its uncanny ability to return from seeming destruction has earned it the codename Endless Cosmonaut.

"This particular attack craft bears monitoring, as it may have paracausal defense, jamming and interdiction functionality beyond conventional mech design," the fleet legion explains. "In fact, we'd wager that it carries a significant amount of Horusian tech on board."



> Another component of the Janus Combine’s Cogent Mind naval combat paradigm, the Hivequeen functions as a command and control platform for numerous maniples of combat drones. A distributed intelligence network allows the central ship to coordinate these appendages across several fronts at once with unerring precision.




"This heavier ship presents a more difficult target due to its strong defenses. It employs drone missiles, breaching pods packed into solid-state payload munitions, and long-loiter sapper drones that can serve as area-denial minefields. It is possible to avoid many of these weapons, but doing so will greatly limit our effective operational maneuvering space."

"Noted, with thanks, Aegis." Tabitha studies the data readouts scrolling in front of her as she steadies herself against the growing momentum of the Bukharin. "Can you advise which of these targets will pose the greatest threat to our command and control capabilities? Anything that might disrupt the smooth unfolding of our fleet actions. I wish to eliminate that threat as a matter of greatest priority."

"Either the Cornicen or the Diluvia," replies Aegis. "The drone swarm is able to lash out with various wave attacks at long range, including greywash capability, which can synergize with the Cornicen's nanomunitions. However, the Diluvia is vulnerable only to area effect attacks, something we lack. So, I would recommend focusing on the Cornicen. Its Legionspace disruption could potentially disconnect a capital ship from the fleet legion entirely, rendering it temporarily inoperable."

Aegis brings up file footage of the Karrakin escort carriers. The imagery shows two escort carriers, launching wave after wave of automated Passacaglia fighters. Hidden among those: the grim shapes of refurbished Kilauea nuclear bombers, dangerous relics from centuries past.

"We believe these to be serious threats only at collapsing and close ranges. The fighters can potentially increase interdiction capability, while the bombers are nuclear delivery platforms."

"Very well then." Tabitha looks up at the flickering images of her fellow Battlegroup Captains. "Priority will be the Cornicen and the two Battlethreads. We will deal with the Hivequeen and its escorts later."

"The Wagner will only be ready to fire in another few hours. Do you believe you will be able to hold out that long in the face of the Hivequeen?" Caspian asks with a raised eyebrow. "I can provide some long-distance support for you but the Wagner is not built for a knife fight."

"We will have to make it work," Tabitha responds. She turns to her fellow battlegroup captains; Elliot Meade of the Shamokin Rising, Ki Su-Lynn of the Undine and Jacinda Evans of the Unicorn, "All of you, follow me. This will be rough."

Even as she completes her brief, the first scarlet beams blaze past the Bukharin from the Björn Járnsiđa scouring the hull of one of the Battlethreads, leaving gibbets of molten metal and vaporized plastics in its wake as Caspian's voice coolly reports over the holoscreen.

"Battlegroup Splinter, engaging."

Next: Entering the Gyre of Battle


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## Tun Kai Poh (Sep 25, 2021)

*The Gyre*

In Lancer: Battlegroup, we do not track the position of units on a grid or hex map. The distances between ships is usually immense - in the tens of thousands of kilometers, or even hundreds of thousands. The time it takes to fight is great as well: it can take hours or even days for missile volleys to travel these distances, or for superheavy spinal guns to finish charging.

Because of this, distance and time are abstracted in this game: Distance is measured on *the gyre* and time is measured in rounds.





The gyre is a representation of the battle space, without using exact measurements of distance. As the fleets maneuver in 3d space, angling for the best engagement vectors, attempting to bring their weapons into optimal range, the actual effective ranges between player battlegroups is measured by the range bands marked on the gyre.

It's best if you think about the enemy fleet being at Range 0, the center of the gyre. Player battlegroups move (using Maneuvers or Tactics) from one range band to another, and they can try to approach the enemy separately, each employing their own tricks and abilities. The abstracted enemy position at the gyre center never changes; instead, when enemy flagships move in the fiction, they are represented in the game by forced movement abilities that shift player battlegroups to different range bands. And players have ways to counter forced movement, too. This makes tracking positions much easier, especially for the GM, who is juggling multiple NPC battlegroups!

Weapon systems will each have ranges (like 5-3, or 4-1 or 2-0) indicating which range bands they can be used in. Powerful long-spool spinal guns like the Spinal Petajoule Kinetic are best fired at longer distances, like sniper rifles. Rapid-firing mass accelerators and shotgun-like conical kinetic projectors are only effective at shorter ranges.

As for smaller craft, like corvettes, destroyers, fighters and mechs, these have an effective range (usually 3-0 or 2-0) in which they operate. Their movement is not individually tracked, but they are assumed to be in constant motion between their carrier and enemy targets. During each round, waves of these attack craft are rearming at their carriers, launching, making their hours-long journeys to their targets, disgorging their deadly ordnance, then turning back to their carriers once more.

And yes, this flips the modern carrier warfare paradigm! In Battlegroup, powerful capital ship weapons can reach across a hundred thousand kilometers long before fighters and bombers are even in range. So carriers are now shorter-ranged compared with battleships. Carriers can swarm enemies up close with strike craft, but the battleship, with its superheavy weaponry, is truly the titanic queen of the gyre.





_Art-in-progress preview by Utopie Selective._

Now that we understand a bit better, next, we're going to move into Round 1 proper, as the first shots are fired...


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## Tun Kai Poh (Sep 28, 2021)

*This Will Be Rough, Part 1*

_Each round of battle starts with a Logistics step. Reloading systems recharge. Supermassive Charge weapons count down to the round in which they will fire. Payloads count down their flight counters, representing their flight towards targets. Players can activate some offensive and defensive Systems during this step.

Battlegroup Splinter:
1) Richard Wagner removes one token from each Spinal Petajoule Kinetic.
2) 2 x Harbinger Lead Lasers - fire on removal of charging tokens, deal 4 damage to one of the Battlethreads

Also during the Logistics step, the Hivequeen uses its Sapper Drones system to choose either range band 4 or 5 to be seeded with drones - it chooses range band 5. Until the next Logistics step, any hostile battlegroup that ends its turn in that range band will take 1d6+1 Area damage, and will make Single Target attacks at +1 Difficulty until the end of their next turn.

Long-loiter sapper drones are often seeded in volleys across predicted approach vectors, operating on minimal power until targets come into range. Once activated they quickly home in and affix themselves to ships, injecting viral attack code directly into compromised systems, which results in cascading malfunctions until purged by damage control teams.

This is a Reloading 2 System, so the Hivequeen won't be able to use it again until Round 3.

Next comes the Impact Step, which is when Payload and Charge attacks that have finished counting down will hit their targets. Nothing is happening here, at least for this round.

After that, each battlegroup gets to take their turn during the Action Step, carrying out the Maneuvers and Tactics that are the bread-and-butter of space combat. Players typically only get one Maneuver and one Tactic (or just two Tactics if they want), while NPC battlegroups get more for their Escorts, which somewhat balances out the fact that PCs have generally better Defense and more powerful weapons.

Battlegroups take alternating turns during the Action Step; first the players choose one of their battlegroups to go, then an NPC battlegroup goes, and so on until everyone has gone.

We start with Battlegroup Eland.
1) Maneuver: All Ahead Full!
Close to range 3
Fire Primary Heavy Kinetic Batteries (roll:17) for 5 damage to damaged Battlethread.
Barrage Doctrine: Fire two Auxiliaries as part of the All Ahead Full! Maneuver. Both Destroyers fire for 2 damage each, which destroys this Battlethread.

Also, the player adds 1 volley counter to the 3x3 Block Short-Spool Cannons.

2a) Tactic: Destroyer Command. A destroyer fires a Snapflight Torpedo against the surviving Battlethread.

Thanks to the Shamokin Rising's
Wolfpack Tactics Trait, the player issues a free command to the other destroyer attached to the carrier.

2b) Destroyer Command: Snapflight Torpedo against the surviving Battlethread._

The exhaust plumes of Battlegroup Eland brighten as they accelerate the Union fleet towards the hostile fleets, leaving the Richard Wagner and her escorting Frigate further and further behind. Aboard the Shamokin Rising, fighter crews prepare for launch as her command crew hastily run through the complex astronavigational calculations for her subline Destroyers to bring them into their designated positions in formation.

On the bridge of the Bukharin, her crew runs through final systems checks as the range ticks down. The tension shows on the faces of the young ensigns as they power up weapons and make adjustments to the various sensor and power systems as the digital range clock counts down. As it ticks down to 32:50, Officer of the Deck calls out "Mark, engines cut, beginning turn to port."

The massive ship physically flexes as hundreds of thousands of tons of steel and composites begins to swing around, fighting its own inertia to carve a gentle turn to port. Behind it, the Unicorn and the Undine follow the turn, but swing wider, continuing to close with the enemy battlegroup in gentle arcs between their targets and the Bukharin.

"Weapons unmasked, engaging scopes." Gunnery Officer Petrov looks up at her captain. "Firing on your command." Tabitha nods at her.

"Fire."

The Union battle line erupts in a massive storm of silent flame as the massive guns of the Bukharin's secondary turrets fire followed in turn by the lesser weapons on the Unicorn and Undine. Spears of light streak towards the damaged Battlethread with deadly intent.

The results are shattering. The Bukharin's guns hammer the smaller ship, punching clean through it, venting clouds of fragments and gasses from its broken hull, shattered machines and destroyed syetems. Then the smaller shells of the two destroyers arrive, smashing what's left into unrecognizable debris.

The two destroyers continue their deadly arc. On each of them, multiple bays pop up from their flush hulls and, as their crew complete their final calculations, they spew a storm of glowing plasma tendrils, accelerating faster than any capital class munition can towards the second Battlethread.

The Cornicen has just enough time to register that battle calculations are not being completed. The second Battlethread receives the signal to initiate final launch sequence just as the torpedoes from the Undine and Unicorn turn it into a rapidly expanding mass of superheated gas.

The Cornicen, now stripped of its escorts, begins accelerating to close the distance with Battlegroup Eland. Its primary batteries flash, launching volley after volley of nanomunition shells at the Nikolai Bukharin. But without the processing power of the Battlethreads to maximize targeting confidence, the shells lead the battleship too far by a hundred kilometres.

A single fiery speck has closed the no-man's-land between the two battleships: The Endless Cosmonaut. <TABITHA, WE MEET AGAIN,> an eerie voice says over open comms. <ALTHOUGH FROM YOUR REFERENCE POINT, IT IS OUR FIRST DANCE.>

A beam of exotic particles washes across the Nikolai Bukharin's armour belt, rearranging molecules subtly. The damage is almost imperceptible, but already the enemy mech is recalculating, recalibrating to improve beam performance for future attack runs.

The Cosmonaut retreats swiftly, using microburst drives to return to the Cornicen's shadow.

Next: Grocery List


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## Tun Kai Poh (Sep 29, 2021)

*Groceries*

_Battlegroup Denver's Action Step: The Cornicen's No-Repro Munitions maneuver misses, but also pulls Battlegroup Eland to Range 2. Meanwhile, the Endless Cosmonaut attacks the Bukharin - its attacks build up to do more and more damage over time.

Battlegroup Splinter is next. The Wagner locks onto one of the small carriers and launches Dorsal Razorback Missiles at it._

In contrast to the tense activity on the Bukharin, the bridge of the Richard Wagner is eerily quiet. Her crew barely acknowledges the silent radiation bursts that mushroom on her sensor displays. The Officer of the Deck reads out the unfolding battle with all the enthusiasm of a man checking his grocery list. Gunner Officer Bryant is staring at her screen, her face highlighted by its soft blue glow as she checks the various status updates unfolding before her.

Caspian Var continues to stand at ease before the holographic battlemap silently watching the range tick down. He snorts in disdain as the cloud of sapper drones drift by. Whatever their trajectory, the Wagner has already passed their calculated point of impact.

The timer flashes and Gunnery Officer Bryant calls out; "Status report, target is locked on. Razorbacks are armed..." All along the Wagner's aft superstructure, launch cells suddenly vent with a mechanical thrum. A short whine follows as their plasma boosters light off, "...and mark. Weapons launched. Cells 1 through 8 clearing the rails."

Dozens of tendrils of light arc from the Richard Wagner as its launch cells whirr shut. On the bridge there, all remains quiet, with only the sound of the ship's on-board printers preparing a second volley and the beep of a new timer beneath the range clock to be heard. Chief van Ghent breaks the silence.

"60 minutes to impact."

_In the final Action Step, Battlegroup Elvis unleashes its full strength at Tabitha's battlegroup. Boarding pods. Drone missiles. Swarms of dissassembler greywash nanites. And its automated fighters shooting down their Union counterparts._

As the Nikolai Bukharin drives toward the heart of the enemy fleet, the tiny dots of the diluvian drone cloud around the Hivequeen become visible on optical scopes. Gunnery Officer Petrov exhales, hard. "That's a big cloud, all right. And it's accelerating towards us."

Aegis flags a hail of incoming fire from the Hivequeen - high-velocity kinetic projectiles, as well as slower K-Drone packs. Already, the Peregrine fighters of the Shamokin Rising are vectoring to interdict the K-Drone missiles.

Captain Meade's voice cuts in through the ALLCOMM chatter. "Shamokin Rising Actual to all wings, you have fast movers incoming. Prepare to engage!"

The Peregrines peel and swirl to defend against the attacking Passacaglia fighters. From the holographic views on the bridges, it's a silent dance of death. But each little bloom of light and radiation represents a brave pilot flashing out of existence.

Long minutes pass before the opposing fighter wings disengage. The Peregrines have taken 40% casualties.

Aegis reports multiple localized systems failures along the fore ventral hull of the Nikolai Bukharin. "We have deployed security and damage control teams to root out the saboteur drones."

_Round 1 is over._

Next: Christmas Tree


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## Tun Kai Poh (Sep 30, 2021)

*This Will Be Rough, Part 2*

_Round 2 begins. The Richard Wagner's weapons continue to charge while the Björn Járnsiđa's 'hot' targeting lasers damage the Cornicen. Ongoing greywash damage erodes the hull of the Nikolai Bukharin. And the K-Drones reach the Bukharin._

Gunnery Officer Bryant watches her screen intently, carefully adjusting the calculations to account for the movements of her quarry as the Wagner begins to decelerate into firing position. She casts a glance at her captain, standing stoically before the battle display.

Caspian says nothing, continuing to watch the deadly dance of the Bukharin and her escorts silently.

There is a silent flash on Bryant's terminal, indicating the Wagner's guns are now at 65% nominal charge. She turns back to her station and continues to her power up procedures as the confidence lasers on the Björn once again flash, carving a wavering tattoo of vaporized armor plate on the hull of the Cornicen.

The range clock on the incoming warheads ticks down. As the munitions pass into the battlegroup's perimeter, the surviving Peregrines swoop in, their weapons blazing. One by one, the little markers wink out, but more leak through. At point blank range the Bukharin's CIWS systems swing into action sending a storm of flechettes, each deploying hardened nanofibre filaments as they are flung towards the incoming weapons trying to create a wall of micron-sized scythes against the incoming.

But the CIWS on the Bukharin's starboard hull fire off intermittently as the aggressive nanite swarm begins melting into their vital innards. The range ticks down. Fifty feet. Forty. Warrant Officer Gbeho calmly hits the alert button and throughout the ship the the alert siren blares, commanding everyone to brace. Captain Saint Germaine leans forward and grasps the edge of the Holodisplay tightly.

"Brace for impact."

Ike Gbeho barely finishes that sentence before the first of the projectiles slam into the Bukharin's exposed flank, blasting into her massive belt and sending fragments spalling off into the void. More detonations. Many many more. The Bukharin quakes and heaves as multiple explosions ripple across its starboard quarter.

"Hull breach, Printers in Sector 52A and 52C are offline. Damage control is sealing it off." Ike's fingers dance across his console as he leans over to look at the screen of his fellow defensive systems officer. "We have more drones filling the breached area. Venting."

The ship shudders as atmosphere blasts out through the damaged compartments, snuffing out fires and blowing dozens of Saboteur Drones out with it. As the venting dies down, the Bukharin's own nanomachines kick in and a dull grey film begins to form across the breach, sealing it off.

Ike looks up at his captain. "No casualties, but we can't take another hit like that in the same spot."

Tabitha nods. "Affirmative. Helm, roll us 180 and give them our undamaged side to shoot at."

_State of the fleets after the Impact Step of Round 2:

*2nd Crisis Response Group (Union Navy)*

Battlegroup Eland (Range 2)
Interdiction 1d6+2
UNS-BB Nikolai Bukharin (16 HP), 1 volley counter on 3x3 Block Short-Spool Cannons, 2 greywash counters, boarded by Infestation, Locked On
UNS-CV Shamokin Rising (16 HP)_

_2x Fighter Wing (1 HP, 5 HP)_
_Destroyer Unicorn (8 HP)_
_Destroyer Undine (8 HP)_
_
Battlegroup Splinter (Range 4)
Interdiction: 1d6+2
UNS-BB Richard Wagner (26 HP), 1 charge counter remaining on each Spinal Petajoule Kinetic
UNS-LS Björn Járnsiđa (14 HP)

*Cogent Mind Fleet (Karrakin Trade Baronies)*

Battlegroup Denver, Gyre Center
Cornicen (25 HP)_

_Endless Cosmonaut (6 HP)_
_
Battlegroup Elvis, Gyre Center
Hivequeen (30 HP), 1 reloading counter on Sapper Drones_

_Diluvia (15 HP)_
_2x Starfield Furies (10 HP, 10 HP), inbound Razorback Missiles with 2 flight counters_
_4x Fighter Wing (3 HP, 3 HP, 5 HP, 5 HP)_
_2x Bomber Wing (6 HP, 6 HP)_


Aegis speaks to Tabitha in a low voice. "Captain, I recommend opening the distance against the enemy fleet. We are within range of the nuclear bombers - and the Hivequeen's K-Drones are capable of rapid repeating salvos at this range. It is not a good position to be in."




_Kilauea bombers on Hercynia illustrated by Peyton Gee_

"I intend that, Aegis. But it won't be us who will be moving." She straightens back up, "Captain Meade, Captain Evans! I want that Hivequeen pushed back. Captain Ki, support!" Tabitha Saint-Germaine turns to her bridge crew and points furiously at the Cornicen. "All stations - Fire on that ship!"

_Battlegroup Eland:
1) Maneuver: Unleash Hell!
Fire 3x3 Short Spool Cannons (Roll: 19) (Hit, Damage: 12)
Fire Heavy Kinetic Batteries (Roll: 4) (Miss, Reliable Damage: 2)
Fire Gemini Laser Array (Roll: 15) (Hit, Damage: 4)
Three Auxiliaries fire:
DD Undine (Damage 2)
DD Unicorn (Damage 2)
Flyswatter Missiles 2 damage to each of the damaged fighter wings_

On command, the Nikolai Bukharin lights up like an apocalyptic Christmas Tree with attached disco ball as a mazurka of lasers and solid-state armor piercing shells slam into the Cornicen shattering armor and crushing hull beams. Then her mighty antimatter cannons speak, hurtling their titanic charges at the crippled Karrakin ship. The first technicolor pulse flies wide, followed by a second. But the third brackets the dying Cornicen and the Bukharin's two remaining turrets fire in concert, their massive energy blasts tearing their target apart in spectacular bursts of radiation.

The screens on the Union holodisplays register the death of the Cornicen as a series of silent energy pulses that gradually fade away to black.

_2a) Tactic: Destroyer Command - Snapflight Torpedo, targeting the Starfield Fury with intact wings. Damage 6
2b) Wolfpack Tactics: Destroyer Command - Encirclement. Battlegroup Eland withdraws to range 3_

On board the Shamokin Rising, Captain Meade and his crew are frantically coordinating the assault of the Destroyers on the Hivequeen. Urgent communications flash between the three ships as final calculations are made and the Unicorn and Undine increase speed to flank, rounding on the Hivequeen.

The timing is impeccable as both the Undine and Unicorn circle the enemy Battlegroup. Undine dashes in and once more, her Snapflight torpedoes trace their deadly trajectory towards one of the Starfields. The Unicorn follows in turn, firing her weapons, circling, driving the Hivequeen and her escorts away from Battlegroup Eland and her battered wings. They are soon beyond fighter range.

For the crew of the Nikolai Bukharin, there is no celebration. Warrant Officer Ike Ghebo and his team are still playing a game of whack-a-mole with the Sabotage Drones from the Hivequeen. It is a game they are still losing as sections of the ship go offline and internal defenses get overwhelmed by the hostile infestation. Little by little, the crew is forced back, sealing bulkheads as they go. The fight is still very much on.

Next: Spinal Petajoule Kinetics


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## Tun Kai Poh (Sep 30, 2021)

*Petajoules*

_The Endless Cosmonaut, having survived the destruction of its Flagship, joins the Hivequeen's battlegroup.

Battlegroup Elvis:
1) Hivequeen uses Tactic: Infestation to Lock On to Shamokin Rising, launch boarding pods at Shamokin Rising.
2) Hivequeen uses Maneuver: K-Drone Kill Pack to launch an Area-Target Payload at Battlegroup Eland. Flight time is 2 (range 3, minus 1). Starfield Furies use Angels of Death trait: 1/round when this Escort’s Flagship uses a Maneuver, repair 3 HP to one of this Escort’s Wings. You can only use this ability as long as neither ship in this Escort group is destroyed. One Fighter Wing is repaired to full HP.
3) Diluvia uses Tactic: Lashing Storm to deal 1d6 damage to a hostile Escort within range 4-0 - target Destroyer Undine, rolled 2 damage.
4) Starfield Furies use Tactic: Wing Commander - Interceptor Screen.
This Escort’s battlegroup gains +1 Interdiction until the end of its next turn for each Fighter Wing remaining in this Escort group. That's +4 total._

The Undine quivers under several minor impacts as the diluvian swarm reaches out like a starbound amoeba, dozens of its constituent drones sacrificed in an attempt to scour the destroyer's armour.

Despite taking torpedo hits from the Undine, the starfield carrier continues its methodical business of recovering fighters, rearming and refueling them, and launching fresh wings. Soon, the Passacaglia squadrons are flocking to reinforce the Hivequeen's interceptor screen.

The Shamokin Rising begins to come under fire from the Hivequeen's batteries. Breaching pods strike the carrier-frame amidships, disgorging their drone cargoes.

And a new configuration of K-Drone missiles flashes towards Battlegroup Eland, carrying powerful cluster nukes aimed at bombarding not just the battleship, but its escorts as well.

_5) Endless Cosmonaut uses IMPERATIVE: ATTACK, which increases damage to 2 and deals its damage to the Nikolai Bukharin._

"We're picking up that transmission again," reports Aegis. "The one from the Cornicen's solo mech fighter. It's clearly still in the fight."

<TABITHA 7777777^%&?::I SEE YOU>

The exotic particle beam whips across the battleship's bow, frying sensitive electronics and impairing internal life support systems. It's stronger now, better attuned to the ship's weaknesses...

_Battlegroup Splinter:
1) Maneuver: Retrograde Burn! (+2 Defense, +1d6 Interdiction)
2) Tactic: Lock Firing Solution (Hivequeen)_

"Hostile Battlegroup is being pushed back, Captain. They're taking the opportunity to recover and bolster their defenses." Chief van Ghent looks over at Captain Var. "Battlegroup Eland has taken serious damage but they're holding for now."

Caspian Var nods imperceptibly. "Very well then. Helm, burn retrograde. Sensors lock up that Hivequeen." He looks over at the holographic projection of Captain Lutjens of the Björn Járnsíða. "Captain Saint-Germaine has crippled them. We will end them."

"Weapons are at 75%. Beginning targeting procedures." calls Gunnery Officer Bryant.

_Boarding Step:
Breaching pod attempts Infestation against Nikolai Bukharin, roll of 16, success. Nikolai Bukharin takes 3 damage and is Locked On at the start of next Action Turn.
Breaching pod attempts Infestation against Shamokin Rising, roll of 6, failed._

All across Battlegroup Eland, crews struggle and strive in red-lit combat compartments, all under varying levels of acceleration. In cramped destroyer decks. Aboard Peregrine fighters landing hot for combat refueling and rearming. And on the bridges of the battleship and carrier.

Many of the crew members have private, unofficial timers set up on their consoles. Counting how long it takes for spinal petajoule kinetics to charge.

If an entire fleet could hold its breath as one, it would. Waiting for the shots that could end this battle...

_Round 3, Logistics Step._

There're tremors coursing through the Richard Wagner now as the last timer ticks down the last few minutes to full power. Gunnery Officer Bryant and her team are making last minute adjustments. The tension shows on their faces as the numbers tick down. Thirty minutes. Twenty.

Ten.

Aboard the Björn Járnsíða, the systems on her twin Harbinger turrets swing to bear, their focal heads making final calculations as they zero in on their quarry.

Eight.

Capacitors hum with power as their beam's intensity amps up geometrically pumping petajoules of directed radiation in a pair of coruscating beams that rake across the tattered hull of the crippled Starfield Fury.

Five.

Composites wilt and steel sags as the focused energy beams paint the ship, seeping through rents punched into its armor by the Undine's torpedoes, fracturing hull frames and crumpling sensitive electronics.

Three.

Then it happens - the lasers searing touch grazes the robotic mothership's fuel stores. For a moment, reinforced internals struggle to keep the heat from its deadly cargo. Then they too begin to wilt. Volatile gasses spew forth, expanding rapidly and uncontrollably, blowing out bulkheads and venting out through weakend skin.

Two.

Jets of flame burst from multiple holes in the baby carrier's hull, consuming it rapidly. What little remains of the ship is shattered moments later as its ready-use stores cook off.

One.

Captain Caspian Var watches the destruction of the Starfield Fury with grim satisfaction, her attached combat wings spiralling aimlessly as central control is lost. He folds his hands behind his back and looks down at Gunnery Officer Bryant.

"You may fire when ready."




_Art by Utopie Selective_
_
Impact Step:
Battlegroup Splinter:
SPK 1 - Fire at the Hivequeen (Roll: 3 + (6/5/4 take highest) = 9). 15 damage to Hivequeen. 5 Damage to Starfield Fury
SPK 2 - Fire at the Hivequeen (Roll: 8 + (5/3/2 take highest) = 13). 15 damage to Hivequeen. 5 Damage to Starfield Fury

Total Damage: 30HP to Hivequeen, 10 damage to Starfield Fury._

Time seems to stand still for a split second as the Richard Wagner's twin SPKs discharge with enough power to light up all the cities on Cradle for a day within a split second. The colossal shockwave causes the quarter of a million ton ship to physically recoil in its free fall trajectory. The vast energy surge instantly ionizes the solar wind around the ship and its hyperdense projectiles creating a shimmering multicolored halo around them as they streak just below light speed towards their target.

The titanic slugs careen through the enemy formation, passing bare kilometers either side of the surviving Starfield Fury. Even at that range the shockwave from their passage slams into the smaller ship with all the force of a battleship at full pelt. The carrier visibly crumples in on itself as its hull is stressed beyond capacity, shattering hull plates and spewing its contents into the void. Then they hit the Hivequeen.

The gigantic capital ship shatters like an egg as the slugs strike home, her hull first buckling on impact, then exploding in a storm of exotic alloy fragments and heavy composite shards barely recognizable as having come from a ship. The expanding cloud of hypersonic debris then acts like a giant fragmentation bomb tearing through the Diluvia swarm and the Starfields' surviving strike craft, ripping them to shreds.

Caspian Var turns to Gunnery Officer Bryant and nods.

"A successful shot." he says with a thin smile.

Nothing, it would seem, could emerge intact from the detonation of the Hivequeen. Nothing, except the Endless Cosmonaut. The skeletal frame of the mech fighter is backlit against the incandescent cloud that once was an automated Karrakin warship.

<TABITHA, IT WILL BE AN HONOUR.  UNTIL OUR NEXT WALTZ.>

The mech explodes.

Across the Union fleet, sensors reach out to confirm the kills. No enemy vessels remain, except for a few dozen orphaned Passacaglias left behind after their carrier was destroyed by the Björn Járnsiđa. Enemy warheads in flight, bereft of guidance, are detonated safely.

The fleetmind begins to disentangle. The fleet legion unfuses, individual NHPs returning to their shipside duties.

The familiar voice of Vera can be heard on the Nikolai Bukharin's bridge. "Captain, I'm afraid I cannot track the mech's tachyon signature. It's escaped."

"What do you mean, escaped?" asks Petrov.

"The Captain has a time-travelling stalker now," explains Vera. "Not the most ideal of situations."

Tabitha Saint-Germaine acknowledges the Cosmonaut with a slightly raised eyebrow at Vera as she turns to speak to her fellow Captains. "The Bukharin has taken a lot of damage. We'll need to put in for repairs before we return to station. Captain Meade... conduct S&R to see if any of our pilots made it out of their ships. Everyone else, let's prep for jump." She looks around at the crew and her Captains.

"Well done everyone."

Spinning, stars streaking madly around him. Lieutenant Vau taps his helmet again, but it's no good - comms are still dead. Warning light blinking at the edge of his view, telling him that the O2 is running out.

He's pretty sure at least half his flight made it through that last attack pass. Those damned Karrakin fighters hit hard, but the Union wing gave as good as they got. He wishes he at least knew if the others made it.

A light among the spinning stars, getting brighter. Every rotation, the source shines closer. He waits long minutes before a grapple claw gently catches him and stops his rotation. The S&R shuttle pulls him into its airlock, and the air hisses all around him.

Vau yanks off his helmet, gasping, then groaning. He hears voices ask him if he was hurt.

"I'm okay," he says weakly. Then he grins. "We won?"

Vau is one of 13 pilots recovered after the battle. A small consolation for an engagement that had hit the Peregrines particularly hard.

Half a day later, the Union fleet is underway at nearlight speed.

The nearest port of call would be Lighthouse Station, run by Interplanetary Shipping-Northstar, the premier shipbuilding corprostate. Lighthouse is ostensibly neutral during the Dawnline Shore conflict, but IPS-N sells ships, mechs and arms to a number of local factions, and has leased some private security vessels to clients within the Karrakin Baronies. So it's complicated. But at least the Union ships can dock and resupply here.

The routines on board the members of Battlegroup Splinter remain largely unchanged. The entire Battlegroup is unscathed and the mood is mostly of quiet satisfaction of having done their jobs. Beyond that, the only difference is an increased tempo of battle drills and wargames - something the crew is well aware that their ever watchful Captain is fond of. Even at the best of times, Caspian Var can be something of a martinet.

For Battlegroup Eland, things are different. Personal messages from Captain Saint-Germaine and the other senior officers to the survivors of the Shamokin's fighter wings, damage inspections, constant reviews of combat footage and the endless cascade of information and intelligence requests as the Battlegroup's officers analyze their findings in minute detail as best they can - Captain Ki of the Undine is nursing a pretty spectacular shiner on her forehead from the Diluvian attack on her ship.

Next: At Lighthouse Station


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## Tun Kai Poh (Oct 2, 2021)

*Lighthouse*

Lighthouse Station is a spindle-shaped hive of economic activity, nearly thirty kilometers long. Even in wartime, cargo vessels can be seen on approach, hanging in holding patterns at a distance, or docking and undocking all along the axis of the station. The surface of the station is sometimes broken up by vast hangar spaces, void docks that provide the extensive repair, maintenance and overhauling services that IPS-N is known for.

As the Union battlegroups enter their final approach to Lighthouse Station, both flagships are invited for a conference call with the local Union liaison, Kelvin Baird. The stocky young man appears distracted by goings-on behind him in the station concourse. "Ah...Captain Var, Captain Saint-Germaine? Good to see you back safe and sound. We've got a lot of fuss around the station ever since the war picked up pace. We have a DOJ/HR investigative team due to arrive within 12 hours, and they have requested to meet with you for debriefing on the Shirline incident. There's also a large House of Stone merchant contingent parked here waiting for private security ships to arrive to escort them to DS11 Mesa, or Gloria, as they call it. Noisy lot, they're coming several times a day, making demands of Union's office here. And to top it off, my sources tell me that some tramp freighters from the Long Rim encountered this Meritorious Rex ship a few months before the war - I haven't had the manpower or the time to track them down, but they might yield intelligence on this ship..."

"Thank you Lieutenant Baird. I will assign some of my officers to track down these freighters while we wait for the investigative team - and get our ships patched up." Captan Saint-Germaine makes a couple of notes. "And while we're at it, what exactly are these merchants demanding of you?"

"We are responsible for maintaining the no-fly corridor, but I was not given the impression that we were supposed to be at the beck and call of these travelling salesmen," Captain Var notes sardonically. "Has something changed with the security situation that they find it necessary to trouble you, Lieutenant?"

"Well, they're demanding either an escort or reparations from Union. Originally, they had hired several Trunk Security frigates to protect their convoy, but the war started and Union closed the local blink gate before the hired security force could transit through. And after the Shirline incident, the merchant captains are understandably unwilling to travel without protection.

"Officially, we aren't obliged to do anything. If the House of Stone convoy remains here, they'll keep on racking up docking fees with IPS-N, and that will be a problem for the House and the corp to sort out..."




_The Karrakin House of Stone. Art by Tom Parkinson-Morgan._

"Alright Lieutenant, thank you," She turns to Captain Evans of the Unicorn - Jacinda, could you take a look into this for me? The Unicorn is still undamaged so..." Caspian Var cuts in, "Splinter is fully operational, Tabitha. I'll take CSO Richards and a detachment of his security team with me and we'll track down this information for you." Tabitha Saint-Germaine nods.

"Alright then. Good luck."

Next: At the Sign of the Leaky Gunship


----------



## Tun Kai Poh (Oct 2, 2021)

*Gunship*

An hour later, Caspian and his detachment stand below the neon sign of the Leaky Gunship, a semi-reputable drinking-hole for long-haul freight crews, mercenaries and other travellers from the Long Rim. Captain Cal Cortez of the Spinnerbait, one of two ships that reported hostile encounters with the Rex before the war, is said to spend much of his time here.

The bar is full of space crew in transit. Many eyes look towards the Union Navy uniforms with annoyance or anger.

"Some people blame us for closing the blink gate and jamming up traffic to the Shore," says Richards to Caspian. "Even though we didn't start the fire."

"People will look to blame any immediate authority for their woes, regardless of the truth to it." Caspian sniffs haughtily. He motions one of the bar staff over.

"We are looking for one Captain Cal Cortez of the Spinnerbait. I am told that he frequents this place and I would like to have a word with him."

The server points towards one of the larger enclosed environment cubicles at the rear of the bar. "He's been on Bliss Mountain all morning, drinking highballs and watching birds, I guess? You can send him a text chat on the door screen. Also, are you by any chance the big Cosmopolitan client who's supposed to pay his station tab? He's in debt to almost everybody..."

One of CSO Richards' men punches a laconic text message into the door screen requesting a brief interview with Captain Cortez as Caspian arcs an eyebrow at the server "And exactly who is this client you speak of? How long have they been here and how have they been able to finagle so much support from the locals as to be in debt to all of them?"

"I don't know about the client," replies the server, "but Captain Cortez is one of those younger noble sons from the Baronies, from the House of Symmetry I think. He's been running his long-haul courier service for almost a decade in the Long Rim, racking up debts, then getting big paydays every year or two. And there's a rumour his mommy back in the Baronies will bail him out if he gets too deep in debt, like she did back in '12..."

The environmental pod hisses open, and fresh pine-scented mountain air wafts out. Backlit by a holographic backdrop of the idyllic alpine resort, the gangly figure of Cal Cortez staggers into the doorway, gin-and-tonic in hand. "Aha, the heroic Union Navy has come to our rescue! Surely these stout-hearted lads will put an end to the terror of Captain Wilder and his superdreadnought! I tell you, the scoundrel accosted my crew, boarded my ship illegally and threatened my life, back on Garland Station in the Rim. And this was six months before the war began..." He gesticulates toward some unseen villain. "Accusing me of being a spy for Baronic Unified Command! As if I had the qualifications to engage in any kind of skullduggery...alas, my heart is far too honourable..."

Meanwhile, a situation at the cargo loading dock of the Nikolai Bukharin is occupying Tabitha's attention. Ike Gbeho is in the middle of arguing with an IPS-N security inspector when the captain arrives.

Gbeho turns to report to Tabitha. "Sir, I'm sorry, but the inspector here says we can't load these supplies and parts, because it violates station neutrality."

"That's right," says the short but fiesty corporate cop, glaring at Tabitha over old-style wire-frame spectacles. "Pardon me, Captain. Inspector Frieda Loving. I'm charged with making sure all parties involved in the war - including Union - do not acquire new armaments outside of allowed channels during this conflict. At least, not while they're at this neutral station."

This is odd. As far as Tabitha knows, the battlegroup is only taking on fuel, printer feed stock and specialized machine parts, none of which count as arms.

"My apologies, Inspector Loving, but would you care to elaborate? As far as I am aware there are no arms being loaded on board our ships. Perhaps you could provide us with the relevant manifests and documentation regarding the stated violations?" Tabitha extends a questioning hand towards the Inspector and stares unflinchingly into the shorter woman's eyes.

"Ike, can you and Vera run a check on our own manifests and make sure nothing is being loaded on outside standard neutrality protocol?"

"These parts were signed off by Vera," says Ike. "We made the order the last time we were in port." He frowns at his hand terminal, scrolling through the list.

"I'll save you the trouble," says Inspector Loving. She leads Tabitha to a surprisingly slim case tucked between larger containers. "This is a custom-ordered IPS-N PIPECLEANER Combat Superiority Subaltern with onboard partition capacity. Under your laws, it is classified as a Class I weapon."

Vera's holographic avatar appears on the nearest wall display. "Pardon me, Inspector. This is a misunderstanding. This is merely the humanoid travel chassis that I have requested for off-ship activities, which I am certain the captain will approve."

Frieda Loving stares daggers at Vera. "This is a Warfighter combat subaltern."

"Ah, but - this is my mobility device."

"It's an origami murder robot!"




_Pipecleaner subaltern art by @LymphOwned on Twitter_

Next: The Rex's Captain


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## Tun Kai Poh (Oct 5, 2021)

*Son of Glass*

Caspian arcs an eyebrow at the loquacious Baronial. "So you are familiar with Captain of the Meritorious Rex?", he asks as he deftly puts his foot in the entrance of the pod.

"May we come in? Or would you like to come out? We would like to learn more about your encounter with the Rex and its Captain - did he indicate what he was looking for and why he suspected you of being a spy?"

"Please, please come out to my mountain," says Cal, with a grand sweep of his arm.

Inside the pod entryway is a wooden observation deck, bathed in yellow sunlight and awash in clean mountain air. Scattered white clouds drift overhead in a cerulean sky. On three sides, the green slopes fall away precipitously. Somewhere, Caspian can hear an alpenhorn being blown. A fine simulation, indeed.

There are comfortable deck chairs on the platform. Cal Cortez invites Caspian and his companions to sit.

"Now, that Harman Wilder...quite a tale." Cal strokes a chin and holds up his glass to peer through it, as if looking into the past. "I heard this from some Rittermeer spacers, over a half dozen drinks. Harman was born the child of serfs on an industrial colony under the House of Glass. I'm told it was a miserable life, full of deprivation and tears. Such is the case with the lowest tier of society there. At some point in his youth, his family were able to smuggle themselves off-world, and many months later entered Purview space in the cargo hold of a tramp freighter. Something must have gone very wrong, for only the mother and one other child besides Harman survived the voyage. Nobody knows. The Armory took them in as refugees and settled them on Rittermeer, I think it was. And young Harman was eager to serve in the military - 'service guarantees citizenship' as they say in the Purview."

Cal taps a few commands into the interface console on the railing of the observation deck. The sun is blotted out by the five kilometre-long bulk of the Meritorious Rex, floating improbably overhead. "And after decades of service in the Purview...here he is, Strike Captain Harman Wilder, patriotic citizen, in command of their mightiest superdreadnought. They say he wields his authority like a brutal cudgel. And he has a hot, fierce grudge against all things from the Karrakin Baronies. No wonder the Armory chose him to prosecute the war here in the Shore, where the great Houses have staked their fortunes and their future prosperity."

Next: Caught in the middle


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## Tun Kai Poh (Oct 6, 2021)

*Fracas*

Tabitha looks from Loving to Vera and back with some amusement. "Again, I apologize for the complication, Inspector Loving. You may place a hold on the subaltern while we complete the loading of all other compliant materials. You may accompany my security officer to oversee the process if you wish to ensure nothing else is out of order."

"And my apologies to you, Vera - I'm afraid you're going to have to make do with a less lethal mode of transportation while we are at this station. We will have your custom mobility device delivered via the appropriate military channels. The inspector is right in pointing out that this station is a neutral party and all applicable laws are to be conformed to."

Ike rolls his eyes with an infuriated grunt.

"I'll do a double-check on all the items on the manifest, Captain."

Inspector Loving holds up a hand as she listens to her cochlear radio. "Captain, please tell your crew to stand by. We have a developing situation - violence between Karrakin and Purview crews in the docks. There is a breakway group headed through the link now..."

The nearest crew members lay down supply containers and take cover, while a trio of marines clank forward to protect Tabitha.

"There are fifteen individuals that have pushed past the dock officers," reports Vera. "It looks like twelve in pursuit of three." After a pause: "The murder robot could come in handy, sir."

And from the far end of the dock, where the linkway connects the station to the Nikolai Bukharin, the fracas boils into the wide cargo area.

Three purple-jacketed spacers stumble and fall. One woman is bleeding from the face. The lead spacer gets to his feet, runs towards Tabitha's group even as marines level their shotguns at him.

"Help! They're trying to kill us!"

Behind him, gold-jacketed spacers from the House of Stone, prybars and heavy tools in hand. The tallest one shouts to the Union marines: "Pardon the intrusion. We'll just collect our prisoners and be on our way."

The Karrakin spacers start hauling the fallen Purview crew to their feet, roughly. The injured woman cries out: "We're a satellite repair crew! Civilians! We've got no part in this war! Please!"

Tabitha stiffens and her expression grows cold. "Would any of you care to elaborate exactly what is going on here?" She glares at the pursuing spacers as she motions to Ike to bar their retreat.

Next: Suspicions


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## Tun Kai Poh (Oct 7, 2021)

*True Believer*

"None of that quite explains why he deliberately murdered unarmed civilians on a disabled ship." Caspian looks up from his notes, "Unless you're implying that such behavior is par of the course for this individual. Do continue. I would like to learn more about your own encounter with this individual. Have you heard of other such tales of his behavior in this sector among your erstwhile colleagues?"

"The man is what we call a true believer. He has seen his life transformed, from hereditary serf to free citizen, by the values of the Armory's Purview of Worlds. Meritocracy, ambition, the free pursuit of wealth. He is an instrument for his superiors to inflict terror upon shipping in the Dawnline Shore. Ostensibly, his oversized and over-armed warship is there to stop espionage - searching freighters like mine for 'spies, saboteurs and terrorists,' or materiel in support of same. And, if I may wager, a search-and-seizure incident escalates into an 'unfortunate exchange of shots,' as he will no doubt claim, the result will be just what you see here. Every non-military Karrakin vessel in the region, paralyzed in port, waiting for escort convoys. The flow of supplies to Baronic-friendly worlds shudders to a halt. And if Strike Captain Wilder were to be made to answer for his actions, he would simply take the fall for his superiors, a deniable asset. Although I warrant he has no plans to be captured quietly."

Cal Cortez flicks a holographic icon over to Caspian's data surface. "On a related note. The heavy gas freighter Chartreuse Star," he says by way of explanation. "Registered in Rittermeer, of all places. A month after Captain Wilder's thugs boarded my ship, the Rex attempted to ram the Chartreuse Star just outside of Lambent Station, in the Rim. A harsh exchange of words followed, and Wilder sent Armory marines to search the Chartreuse Star. Apparently the situation took two days to resolve. Even Purview ships weren't immune to harassment. The Chartreuse Star is parked here at Lighthouse Station, so if you want to know more, you could pay her a visit and interview her captain, Ernestine Loong."

Caspian arcs an eyebrow, "Even Purview ships? That seems...excessive even for someone like that", He steeples his fingers as he ponders this piece of information. A few more taps on his pad sends another set of notes back to Bernd and the Wagner requesting a review of all available logs of merchant harassment in the sector. What is the Armory playing at?

"I see. Thank you for that information, Captain Cortez. We will investigate this issue thoroughly. I assume you filed the logs of your incident with the relevant authorities? I will have my crew review them, including your flightpath and manifest. Simply as a matter of procedure, you understand. Do you have anything else to tell me about this unfortunate circumstance?"

In the background, Richards is already arranging to travel to the Chartreuse Star.

Next: Other suspicions


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## Tun Kai Poh (Oct 8, 2021)

*Warring States*

Ike and a select team spread out to cut off the Karrakin spacers. Vera silently beams a visual update showing dots moving in on the stationside area to take control of the violent situations in progress: hardsuited IPS-N security teams, and mid-sized Nelson and Vlad mechanized chassis. Even if the gold-jacketed crews were to flee, Loving's allies are already closing the net.




_Vlad art by Tom Parkinson-Morgan_

The tall spacer nods towards Tabitha. "We had some...security breaches. These Armory space rats were caught sneaking around a printing hangar where we were manufacturing parts for our ship. Spying on us."

"We have legit business!" objects one of the captives, only to be silenced with a fist to the temple.

"We are being targeted by the Armory!" roars the lead Karrakin spacer. "They're murdering us out there, you saw it yourself, captain!"

"I understand your frustration at the situation, sir, but responding in kind is not going to help settle matters." Tabitha responds curtly, "What ship are you from?" she asks as she turns her steely gaze at the wounded Purview spacers, "And you, what business did you have?"

"Prester John III, under Captain Warham of the House of Stone." replies the tall spacer. "You may have heard of him, he's part of the Order of Khayradin." The implication in his voice is that the captain has influence in the Baronies.

When Tabitha addresses the Purview spacers, the one closest to her says: "We were printing engine parts, same as them. Our ship doesn't have a Schedule 3 printer, so we booked a slot at the printer hangar."

"Someone in the printer shop made a mistake," says Loving to Tabitha in a low voice. "Shouldn't have booked crews from warring states to print in the same hangar..."

"You can check with Captain Ernestine Loong," says the Purview spacer. "Our repair skiff is part of the Chartreuse Star's support complement."

"Very well," Tabitha nods slowly at the two groups. "As far as I'm concerned this is neutral ground and everyone is entitled to the same privileges as any other. We'll run the checks to make sure nothing is amiss, but there won't be any prisoners taken by anyone today," she looks meaningfully at the Karrakin spacers. "You lot can stay here a bit until we've done our checks," she says at the Purview spacers, "And if you want to leave anyone here as well," she says, turning back at the Karrakins, "That's fine if it makes you feel better but I strongly suggest you all get on with what you originally came here to do,"

"And you can deal with the hangar foul up, Ms. Loving," Tabitha says quietly with a sardonic smile.

Next: A Reputation and an Accolade


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## Baron Opal II (Oct 8, 2021)

Enjoying the Story Hour, and the glimpse into the Lancer milieu.


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## Tun Kai Poh (Oct 8, 2021)

Baron Opal II said:


> Enjoying the Story Hour, and the glimpse into the Lancer milieu.



Thanks, it's a great sci-fi setting, and we're having a blast.

Tell your friends!


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## Tun Kai Poh (Oct 9, 2021)

*Advancement*

Unlike traditional RPGs, there are no experience points or levels awarded in Lancer: Battlegroup. Instead, each group can decide how to award advancement - once every couple of missions is a good guideline. 

Players can earn accolades and legacies, which provide benefits to their performance in battle, as well as reputations, which are relevant to narrative play only. Players never have to choose between being stronger in combat or being better in narrative play - the GM should give out combat awards to everyone, or narrative awards, or both.

Since play-by-post games tend to take a lot more time, I have opted to award both types of advancement after every battle.

*Battlegroup Eland:*
UNS-BB Nikolai Bukharin gains Legacy: Indomitable (+5 Overshield)
Captain Tabitha Saint-Germaine gains Reputation: Beacon - Eye of the Storm, Traits: (+) Diplomatic, (-) By-The-Book

*Battlegroup Splinter:*
UNS-BB Richard Wagner gains Accolade: Meritorious Service Bar (1/Battle may reroll any Single Target attack roll, but must take the second result )
Captain Caspian Var gains Reputation: Scion - Measure Of A Man, Traits: (+) Observant, (-) Cold

When a character first gains their reputation, they get additional Traits (one positive, ome negative). In addition, they get a reputation advance, which gives a special ability applicable outside of combat. Tabitha's Eye of the Storm makes her immune to fear and intimidation, and those around her are similarly protected. Caspian's Measure of a Man allows him to evaluate someone after engaging in conversation with them, thus determining the price of their loyalty.

And now, with these upgrades added, they are ready to move ahead with the plot.

Next: Reconsider your life decisions


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## Tun Kai Poh (Oct 11, 2021)

*Chartreuse Star, Part 1*

"So the Chartreuse Star? That's an interesting coincidence" Caspian raises his eyebrow at Tabitha's message. "Our good Captain Cortez has pointed us in that direction as well. Seems to be a magnet for trouble."

"Hopefully its nothing more than that, but I don't like coincidences," Tabitha grunts in annoyance. "I suppose I will have to prepare for an _audience_ with Captain Warham at some point. For now, I guess I'll meet you on the Star."

"Indeed," Caspian shuts off the commlink and turns to Richards, "Man in the middle again it seems. A good way to get hit by traffic in both lanes."

Meanwhile, the thundering sound of mech-scale gunfire echoes through the link from the stationside docks. "The violence in the docks seems to require more stiff solutions," Vera remarks. "I'm reading chassis-scale nailguns...and is that a riot cannon?"

"Purely nonlethal," says Loving to the chatty NHP. "Our security mechs are taking necessary measures."

"Rubber-tipped 75mm autocannon rounds? Nonlethal indeed. IPS-N does not fool around." After a pause, Vera updates Tabitha on the fighting. "Ah, I see the riot is being quelled now. The offending crews are reconsidering their life decisions."

The Karrakin spacers in front of Tabitha are also reconsidering their life decisions. They quickly lower their tools and back off, leaving the bruised Purview spacers in Tabitha's care.

Caspian and his retinue arrive at a reception lounge on board the Chartreuse Star several minutes before Tabitha joins them. There's enough time to review what data they have on the Meritorious Rex.

The Rex was launched in 5014u, a first-of-its-class superdreadnought vessel equipped with advanced "turtleback" siege plating, powerful primary batteries, missiles, and a deadly long-spool Tyrant Cannon capable of reducing a Triton defense platform in a single shot. Additional intelligence from the Union Navy indicates that the Rex is more agile than its size would suggest, and is capable of coordinated defensive maneuvers with its escorts.

Finally, Cal Cortez provided one more tidbit: the Rex's onboard mech squadron, led by a flamboyant ace pilot in a red Tokugawa frame. As he told Caspian: "Their ace, 'Chip,' has a fondness for flying close to merchant ships, to intimidate them. He'll light up his plasma torches for a show and slash at the hull, just for fun. Someone should put the blighter in his place!"

Tabitha arrives just as a Chartreuse Star crewman comes to greet the Union naval contingent. "Captain Loong is this way, down the corridor. Please come with me."

They go through a pressure door, into a long, white-lit passage. At the far end, a tiny figure in an austere grey jumpsuit, her hair swept back behind her tinted spectacles. She does not walk to meet them. She just stands and waits, judging them silently with her eyes. She offers no greetings.

Next: Ernestine Loong


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## Tun Kai Poh (Oct 12, 2021)

*Chartreuse Star, Part 2*

_In this conversation, Caspian's player is able to use his Measure of a Man ability to gain additional information about Captain Loong's motivations. No roll needed, it's an automatic benefit._

"Captain Loong," Tabitha says in greeting as she and Caspian draw up to rest in front of the Captain, locking eyes with her, and nods. "Thank you for speaking to us. We have a number of questions regarding your crew and the activities of your ship with regards to the," Tabitha pauses a bit to give Captain Loong a moment to digest that, then continues: "The first is just a simple check and confirmation of the details of your support contingent, the others are a related to your activities in the Rim and a reported run in with one Captain Harman Wilder at Lambent Station." Tabitha cocks her head towards Caspian as she says that, her eyes never breaking contact with Loong's.

Ernestine Loong gives a slight affirmative nod to Tabitha, her poker face never breaking. "Captain Saint-Germaine, Captain Var, I thank you both for helping to protect my crew members from harm. And I fully understand the importance of your peacekeeping duties. I'll be glad to assist in any way that I can."

Captain Loong confirms the details of her repair crew, noting that they have served with her ship for nearly a year. "Like nearly all of us, Rittermeer-born. Talented and productive citizens, and I will vouch for every one of them."

This brings up the obvious question of why Strike Captain Wilder would pull up to the Chartreuse Star and board it. Captain Loong shrugs briefly. "He's doing his duty, distasteful as it is. There are paid informants, agitators, insurgents and saboteur subjectivities lurking all along the Long Rim's constellation of stations. Harrison Armory is being targeted by a far wealthier and more numerous adversary. We are the underdogs in this great contest for the Shore. Captain Wilder's job is to suppress any threats found in his patrol area, and my crew were the unfortunate victims of his overzealous behaviour. Of course we were guilty of nothing more than a few minor hygiene violations in the mess, and a documentation failure that took over a day to unravel. Wilder's boarding party assisted us in achieving proper compliance with all travel certificates. I submitted a report complaining of excessive enthusiasm to Wilder's superiors, as any hardworking Purview captain would, yet I don't really blame him. I would have done much the same."

She really isn't kidding. Caspian can hear it in her voice, see the glimmer of patriotism in her eyes. She is someone who can only be bought by the currency of advancing Armory interests. Preferably while taking credit for any gains for her masters.

"Perhaps," Caspian says with a studiously neutral expression. "An excess of zeal does lend itself to certain unfortunate circumstances. Would you happen to know his patrol zone?"

"I would assume it was the last few light months of the Long Rim nadir route," she replies. "Of course, now that war has broken out, it is a moot point."

She looks over the reports on the well-being of her repair crew, who are now having injuries treated by IPS-N medics. "We will be pushing off in a day or two. But if there are any other inquiries, please have your NHP talk to my NHP."





_The Long Rim art by Tom Parkinson-Morgan_

Next: New arrivals.


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## Tun Kai Poh (Oct 13, 2021)

*Detectives and Sellswords*

Three days later. For the Union battlegroups at Lighthouse Station, it is a busy time.

With the recent arrival of the UNS-CV Maliau Basin came replacement crews and fighters for the Shamokin Rising. Lieutenant Vau has taken charge of assessment and integration of the new pilots into the fighter wings. He's determined to make sure the rookies have the best possible chance of surviving their tour.

For Caspian and Tabitha, the most important passengers on the Maliau Basin were Captain Tiburce Rodin of the Union Department of Justice/Human Rights, and his NHP assistant Hawker. Captain Rodin and Hawker wasted no time in getting up to speed on the war crimes of Strike Captain Wilder and the Meritorious Rex. After reviewing the particulars of the case, the DOJ/HR team requested to transfer to the Richard Wagner for the time being, in the hope of catching the trail of the Rex in the near future. "We promise to be unobtrusive," the mild-mannered Rodin said to Caspian.

Today, another battlegroup is docking at Lighthouse: A heavily modified battlecarrier and a pair of smaller assault transports. The Mirrorsmoke Mercenary Company has entered the fray in the Dawnline Shore.

"Captain Warham of the House of Stone is unlikely to be pleased with the mercenaries," says Vera to Tabitha, almost gleefully. "Mirrorsmoke has cancelled the security contract with the House of Stone, citing an increased threat level in the region. Shouldn't be too surprised. After all, their ship is named We Demand Hazard Pay!"

So why is the Mirrorsmoke battlegroup here, then? The answer comes quickly. Union has hired the mercenaries to support Battlegroups Splinter and Eland.

Vice Admiral Reality Gentle has scheduled a joint briefing at 1000hrs ship time, via remote conferencing, to introduce all of the captains involved to one another.

Tabitha looks up from her briefing pad in surprise, "So... they've... quit a contract with House Stone citing an increased threat level and they've instead signed on with Union... in the same region? How much are we paying them and why exactly are they being attached to us?"

Caspian scowls, "Mercenaries. We don't need their scum. It sounds like a potential liability if you ask me."

"Hard to disagree with that assessment, but it seems that high command thinks we need more firepower, dubious as its quality appears to be." Tabitha looks at her chronometer. "Let's see what Vice Admiral Gentle has to say about this. Let's link into the conference."

Next: Gentle words


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## Tun Kai Poh (Oct 15, 2021)

*Gazebo Party, Part 1*

The holographic display wraps around both Caspian and Tabitha. They're now in a long, verdant garden, bordered by tall white marble walls. Three pale moons hang in a lavender sky, while the silver span of an orbital elevator arcs from the unseen horizon. 

Caspian's eye is drawn to the group of humans in the central gazebo. Under the high white roof, cool lamps illuminate the open structure. Vice Admiral Gentle sits in an elevated chair at one end, looking grand-matriarchal in her high-collared spacer suit designed to match the black-and-gold of the Union Navy uniform. The four Mirrorsmoke representatives sit in a cluster: A rotund jolly uncle-type wearing a pilot jacket and fatigues, a small brown woman with a severe face in a cut-down monk's robes, and two damned lawyers. The lawyers wear conference suits and bland expressions, but Bernd and Vera pip them with targeting brackets for Caspian and Tabitha's eyes only, warning that these are members of one of Mirrorsmoke's feared legal detachments. 

"Come, at ease," says Reality Gentle, beckoning to the two captains. "Captain Caspian Var. Captain Tabitha St. Germaine. My two finest group commanders." 

She introduces the captains to the leader of the mercenaries: "This is Colonel Kenan Milch of the MSMC Board, in command of the 120th Detachment, 'The Sour Brains.'" 

"A pleasure to meet you!" says the colonel, beaming and holding out his bear-like arms in greeting. "Let me introduce my staff!" 

He gestures to the small woman. "Major Lani Mahayhay, my executive officer." She nods and smiles politely. 

"And we have Nirmal King, compliance officer, on special attachment from the 32nd Legal Detachment, 'The Fighting Shaitans.'" This pale lawyer barely displays signs of life. 

"Finally, Zoltan Pesh, liability manager, also from the 32nd." The androgynous lawyer nods very slightly at the captains. 

"Zoltan Pesh?" Admiral Gentle approaches the lawyer, pretending to smile. "I've read your name before. You were representing Smith-Shimano after that business on Hercynia, weren't you? You were number two on their defense team I believe?" 

"Yes." 

"You put up quite a fight for your client. Beat us hard." Gentle pauses, then adds: "Well fought." 

"Merely doing my job," says Pesh. 

"And now you're with the MSMC?" 

"Poached by the senior partners," Pesh replies. "They liked my work."

"A pleasure to meet you all," Caspian says with a polite nod, "We look forward to working with you in future," he says, smiling thinly. Tabitha mirrors his gesture. "I must confess to being curious as to what brought your team into our employ," she says, with an inquiring look at Admiral Gentle, "It does seem that things are starting to heat up around here."

Colonel Milch shrugs. "Once the shooting in the Shore began, the House of Stone made a number of demands, which went beyond our wartime hazard clauses -"

Pesh gives the colonel a sharp look, which cuts him off. The lawyer explains: "A number of disagreements arose. We were unable to come to an amicable agreement and we triggered our exit clause. Litigation by the House of Stone is pending, but we are confident that we have a very strong case." Pesh takes a breath, then adds: "Since we had already made the transit into the Dawnline Shore, the Board gave the Colonel authority to find alternative employment. The Rear Admiral was quick to hire us on."

Next: Interception plan


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## Tun Kai Poh (Oct 16, 2021)

*Gazebo Party, Part 2*

Gentle glances at the Union captains. "That's the cue for my briefing," she says, standing quickly. She leads the party to a scenic pond behind the gazebo, where a glowing orrery of planets and flight paths can be seen over the water's surface.

"Following the massed fleet engagements over New Creighton and the skirmishes near Lighthouse Station, the Armory and Federal Karrakin forces have begun clashing at various DLS worlds aligned to either belligerent. We've cut blink access and airgapped the local omninet. Our Crisis Response Groups are guarding the blink gate and DS4 New Madrassa, but we will also need to secure the apex and nadir routes from the Long Rim. Without blink gate access, that's the only way any of the belligerents can send fleets into the Dawnline Shore."

A rather familiar gas freighter appears in close zoom over the pond. "This is the Chartreuse Star, an Armory-flagged civilian freighter that has been running a regular route from the Rim through several Dawnline Shore worlds. Union Naval Intelligence reports that the Chartreuse Star has been spying for the Armory, and has intercepted communications with an Armory fleet now approaching via the Long Rim nadir route. The bulk of our spare CRGs will be moving to intercept the Armory ships and force them back."

"And we're not going there?" asks Colonel Milch.

"Negative. Intelligence suggests that some Armory ships may also try to slip through the Long Rim apex route, passing by Lighthouse Station. We can't spare a full CRG, but I believe that your ships will suffice as a sufficiently strong patrol force to keep this corridor safe. Considering that the Meritorious Rex is still at large at the edge of the Rim, the threat here is very real."

"I've heard about the Rex," says Colonel Milch, rubbing his hands together. "Untouchable at long range. But if we can get close to its soft belly, I reckon a mass accelerator barrage and some boarding parties could crack it open!"

Next: Joint operations


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## Tun Kai Poh (Oct 16, 2021)

*Gazebo Party, Part 3*

"Untouchable at long range, you say," Caspian raises an eyebrow. "I would assume then she will have company to keep people at range. Do we have any additional information of the kind of forces we might encounter besides the Rex?" he asks, turning to Gentle.

"According to Intelligence, the Armory has deployed a small number of advanced designs with experimental technologies such as thermal shrouding and blink-tunnelling drives. We haven't seen such weapons in engagements thus far, but it won't be long before we encounter them. And we expect the Rex to have some subline escorts, possibly some carrier support as well."

Major Mahayhay steps over to Tabitha's side. "Good to meet you, Captain. I heard you tangled with the Karrakin fleet up close, and came out the other side. That's rare and valuable experience. My crew have mopped up pirates before, but I have no delusions about the difference between pirates and the fleet of a major superpower like the Baronies or the Armory. Respectfully, I'd like to propose some joint training between my pilots and yours when we get underway. From the schedule that the Vice Admiral proposes, I think we have a few days. What do you think?"

"That would be splendid," Tabitha nods at her. "We can make the arrangements and also provide you with the recordings of the battle if you could also share some of your own previous engagements. The better for our fleets to work together."

Caspian gives Major Mahayhay a sidelong glance. He's unsure whether the small spacer is actually interested in cooperation or simply feeling them out. He keeps his peace with only a slight furrow of his brow signaling his disapproval.

"Very good," says Major Mahayhay. "I'll have a word with the legal team about sharing our battle records as soon as possible."

Next: Leaving Lighthouse Station


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## Tun Kai Poh (Oct 17, 2021)

*Into a Black Sky*

The rest of the meeting is decidedly informal. Vice Admiral Gentle lets her battlegroup captains work out the details. She only stresses the importance of keeping more belligerents from entering the fray in the Dawnline Shore. "Both sides have enough manufacturing capacity and standing troops to keep up the fight for years, even without counting reinforcements from the Long Rim. So let's try to keep them from further fueling the fire. As always, use your discretion in interpreting your orders."

Once the meeting breaks up, the little fleet sets out into the black sky within just 10 hours. The Union ships are supplied and ready to go, and the mercenaries only stop at Lighthouse long enough to refuel.

More than a few Karrakin eyes watch the mercenaries leave with great annoyance. The We Demand Hazard Pay was supposed to shepherd the House of Stone convoy, but the contract dispute has left the Karrakins stranded here even longer.

With the Nikolai Bukharin leading the way, the fleet gets underway.

Operation SWIFT AMITY has begun.

Next: Nadir and Apex


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## Tun Kai Poh (Oct 18, 2021)

*Nadir*

Six days later. Operation WINGSPAN CORRAL.

Ten ships of the line cruise the black sky in a staggered formation, guarding the Long Rim nadir route. On the UNS-BB Six Grandfathers, Commander Louis Smalls reviews the latest sensor contact, a Smith-Shimano light freighter carrying luxury genetics bound for DLS9 San Simeon, accompanied by a Trunk Security parasite corvette. It's the only armed vessel they've detected on the nadir route so far.

"I'm certain that Fleet Commander Meng will have none of this nonsense," says Louis to his NHP executive officer, Fairchild. "They'll have to turn back. Unless they're bringing relief supplies and medical aid, they're not getting through."

"It's hardly the Armory fleet we expected, though," replies the NHP. "Either they're late, or the intel was incorrect."

"Well, where could an entire Armory reinforcement fleet have gone? Maybe they crossed to the apex route? Hooked up with the Rex?"

"In that event, we do have a scratch group outside Lighthouse Station. Richard Wagner, Nikolai Bukharin and their escorts. And some Mirrorsmoke mercenaries."

"Richard Wagner?" Louis laughs. "My classmate from the academy is in command. Caspian Var, the deuce!"

"Didn't he file a complaint against you in the academy?"

"Accused me of plagiarizing his report! Entirely a misunderstanding." Louis physically gestures as though brushing some lint from his uniform. "I have doubts about his good judgement."

"Captain Var has a solid record to date. Vice Admiral Gentle decorated him with the Meritorious Service Bar for his engagement with Karrakin ships."

"Hmmmph. Well, if our intel is wrong, and the Armory fleet is headed his way, he'll have more than enough chances to earn more medals."

*Apex*

Operation SWIFT AMITY, Long Rim apex route.

The fleet's extreme-range sensors pick up multiple nearlight contacts, and after initial analysis, Vera and Bernd deliver the news: an estimated 6 ships of the line, plus escorts, headed this way.

Intel was wrong. The Armory reinforcement fleet is coming. Now.

Tabitha and Caspian receive news of the unwelcome arrivals dispassionately on the fleet conference.

"Vera, please display the fleet composition readouts for everyone," Tabitha says. "We need to know exactly what we're up against."


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## Tun Kai Poh (Oct 19, 2021)

*Brilliant and Professional*

"We're still looking at middle-confidence profiles, but at the moment we can make out four battleships and two capital-scale carriers, along with a dozen smaller escorts," says Vera. "The good news is that they're spread out, with one battleship and two carriers trailing the rest by 1-2 light days. There is a possibility - and I stress that this is all theoretical - that we could defeat the entire force in detail if we had to."

Captain Rodin of the DOJ/HR, sitting in on the fleet conference, squints at the data and frowns. "None of the battleships look large enough to be the Rex."

"Correct," says Bernd. "The Rex is not among them."

Vera displays the profiles of all ships in SWIFT AMITY. "Aside from Battlegroups Splinter and Eland, we have the Sour Brains, comprising the battlecarrier We Demand Hazard Pay, and the assault transports Facefirst and Fool's Gold. The former carries four wings of mechanized chassis and is armed with superheavy mass accelerator banks, and the latter two transports have several marine landers between them, for boarding actions."

"I'll have CGO Bryant start working up our targeting solutions as per standard, Tabitha," Caspian says, "I don't expect we'll be doing much out of our standard operating procedures to open this engagement, unless Colonel Milch and Major Mahayhay have anything to add?"

The Colonel says: "Get us close enough to use our mass accelerators and launch boarding parties. I suggest sending us into boarding range alongside Battlegroup Eland - more targets for the enemy to split their fire against when we dive in. Then we just need your fighters to cover us when we launch. The Major has told me she's quite pleased with the joint training exercises we've been running. So I'm confident we can pull it off."

Zoltan Pesh speaks up - although the lawyer's voice is just a soprano echo compared with the Colonel's bold bass. "We have cleared all legal hurdles to permit our NHP to fuse with your fleet legion in case of engagement. Thank you, Captains, for signing our liability release forms."

_Battlegroup Splinter Uptime Action - consult with Gunnery, using Caspian's Professional trait: (17+4) = 21
Remove one additional charge counter on one of the SPKs during the first logistics phase.

Seeing as this is basically Caspian and his crew's SOP at the start of a battle (and he's somewhat obsessive on training and efficiency), he wants to run his crew through the necessary checklists to prepare to open the fight with everything they've got.

Battlegroup Eland Uptime Action - consult with NAVINT, with Tabitha's Brilliant trait: (16+3) = 19
1. What sort of charge weapons do the enemy Flagships have?
2. Which of the enemy fleets will be more willing to stand and fight - and which ones can I intimidate into surrender?
3. What sort of movement disruption abilities do the fleets have?

Tabitha uses her Brilliant trait to try and tease out some vital intelligence on the incoming hostile fleets. She finds that four of the six capital ships are on file. Two of the leading trio are identified as PCV-DN Hannibal and PCV-DN Shaka Zulu, both built and crewed out of Rittermeer. Intel considers Rittermeer to be one of the more loyal Purview worlds, and unlikely to break under fire. Two of the Hannibal's subline escorts, as well as the Shaka Zulu and the unidentified third dreadnought in the leading trio, are at the early stages of charging their long-spool weapons, and there are also some odd exotic radiation readings coming from both the latter battleships._

"It's a high chance of more paracausal technology," says Vera. "Maybe it's Voladore blink-tech. We've been warned that they're bringing some experimental ships into the Shore, in which case we may expect some unconventional movement tricks from these ships. I'll flag them on the threat display for you."

Captain Tiburce Rodin speaks up: "Strike Captain Catrina Bannon commands the Shaka Zulu. She was Harman Wilder's friend and classmate at the Purview Interstellar College cadet program. Strongly loyal to the Armory, a favourite of the high directorate. I would not be surprised if she's put in command of the fleet. She's supposed to be conservative and cautious. She prefers to let the long-spool weapons do the talking."

Of the three trailing ships (two carriers and a battleship), Tabitha is able to pull IDs on two of them. One is PCV-GC Arminius, an IPS-N-built battlecarrier commanded by Strike Captain D.S. Gopalakrishnan, a young rising star in the Armory, known for his unconventional strategems at the Purview Interstellar College war games. And the other is PCV-DN James I, a Man O'War commanded by Captain Lowell Petrie - an old acquaintance of Tabitha's from her academy days. Petrie was a visiting exchange student, benefitting from a time when relations with the Armory were better. He's a good man with an honourable heart. Not the sort to waste lives in a pointless battle. And he had a fond spot for Tabitha, even though they only knew each other for a few months...

"I beg to differ," says Vera to Captain Rodin. "If I was a smart Director, I'd put Gopalakrishnan in command. He's probably the most cunning officer of the bunch. They say he's studied NHP psychology in an effort to find new ways of tactical thinking."

Next: Opening statements


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## Tun Kai Poh (Oct 20, 2021)

*Swift Amity*

"We could trim down these numbers somewhat, Tabitha," Caspian says, looking up from the weapons console that he and CGO Bryant have been methodically working over. "My crew has managed to work out some shortcuts in the powerup procedures for the Wagner's guns. If we push them into overdrive we can launch an immediate strike on one of the capital ships and take it out of play before the battle really gets going and have the second weapon ready to fire soon after. If all goes well, we could take two capital ships out of play before we get stuck in. Of course, there will be... consequences if we do this. We'll almost certainly burn out the power conduits to the overcharged gun which will take it out of the battle."

Tabitha frowns. "That's quite a gamble and you're assuming everything goes well and according to plan."

"My plans always go well, Tabitha," Caspian counters with an arrogant smirk.

On the bridge of the Bukharin, the bridge crew roll their eyes at that.

Tabitha St. Germaine looks worriedly at the readings. They're outnumbered and outgunnd. Caspian's plan might help even the odds but at what cost? She runs the numbers through her head. Cutting down the number of charge guns is a priority in her mind but unless the Wagner gets lucky, she isn't willing to bet that it would successfully kill a Battleship in a single strike. On the other hand...

"Given the number of charge weapons pointed at us, the Wagner might not get a chance to fire a second time, Captain," CSO Ghebo pipes up, watching his Captain closely.

Tabitha looks down at her feet for a moment. Then looks back up, facing the conference.

"Very well, Captain Var, proceed as per your suggestion. Take your shot at the Shaka Zulu and take it out of play as quickly as possible. We will aim for the Hannibal and its group. Colonel Milch, follow the Bukharin's lead. We take those charge weapons out of play as quickly as possible but we'll need cover against incoming. The Shamokin Rising's wings got chewed up the last time. I'd like that not to happen again."

"All ships, close. Full power to the engines and forward shields, Vera, open comms to all incoming ships and sound battle stations."

Tabitha St. Germain straightens herself and her uniform and faces the comms display.

"Attention, Purview ships. This is Captain Tabitha St. Germaine of the UNS-BB Nikolai Bukharin. You are in violation of the Union no-fly corridor - this route is closed to all military traffic. Please power down your weapons and remain where you are until such time that we can assign a battlegroup to escort you out of this conflict zone."

Even she says this, the Bukharin's sensors detect a massive energy spike originating from the Wagner.

Caspian smiles amidst the disconcertingly gentle warnings of the massive energy surge coursing through the Wagner's guns. 

"Just a little bit of Big Stick diplomacy," he says coolly.

The gunnery crew smile along with him, the flashing red warnings lighting their faces in a sinister glow.


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## Tun Kai Poh (Oct 21, 2021)

*Expeditious Remarks*

The reply comes just minutes later. The red-haired woman glares angrily out from the hologram, spitting her words like fire. "This is Strike Captain Catrina Bannon of the PCV-DN Shaka Zulu. We are on a mission of mercy to DS12 New Creighton. The legitimate government of the Perfect Ministeriat has come under vicious attack by terrorist factions sponsored by the Karrakin Trade Baronies. The Harrison Armory fleet is merely meeting its humanitarian and treaty obligations to our allies. We urge the Union Navy to step aside and let us do our job. We will not be held responsible for what happens if anyone interferes with us!"

She pauses for breath, then continues. "Captain, you can't seriously intend to throw away the lives of your men. I have six battlegroups under my command. We have numerical superiority. Our ships are more advanced. Our crews are dedicated and unrelenting." She snorts. "I laugh at your feeble fleet. Are we supposed to be impressed by these...mercenaries? When we are finished with you, Captain, I will take great pleasure from -"

The signal breaks up. There are stellar flares in the neighbourhood, and long-distance comms and tracking systems are being affected.

"Well, damn," says Colonel Milch over fleet comms, chuckling. "Our crappy name worked again! Nobody ever overestimates the Sour Brains!"

"Sir, perhaps we want to keep Bannon alive until last?" suggests Vera. "Lest someone more intelligent takes command?"


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## Tun Kai Poh (Oct 22, 2021)

*This Will Be Rough, Part 3*

"A more intelligent commander would use their heavier ships to buy time for their carriers to slip past us," Tabitha leans over the plotting table. "And I believe the more intelligent commander is in charge of the carrier fleet."

"You think he might make a break for it?" Caspian asks with a raised eyebrow.

"They might if they see things go badly for their battle line. I might need you to get the Wagner stuck in, Caspian."

"Rather expected that Tabitha. We will follow you in. We'll also revise our targeting priorities as appropriate."

"This will get rough," Captain Evans mutters under her breath to the uneasy assent of the other ship captains.

Tabitha nods, "Unfortunately, these are the cards we've been dealt. We have our orders. Vera? Get confirmation from Fleet that they are aware of our situation," then she straightens up and faces the broadcast screen as the line opens once more.

"You are not expected to be impressed, Strike Captain. You are expected to comply. You are in violation of the Union no-fly corridor and are required to stand down immediately pending a suitable escort out of a live conflict zone. Union has made is stance on the issue clear and we will not be intimidated into inaction by superior force..." Tabitha pauses for effect and continues clearly and coldly, "... or deliberate acts of mass murder." 

In the background, Caspian chuckles grimly.

Next: The 2nd Expeditionary Fleet


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## Tun Kai Poh (Oct 23, 2021)

*Order of Battle*

_State of the fleets:

*2nd Crisis Response Group (Union Navy)*

Battlegroup Eland (Range 5)
Interdiction 1d6+2
UNS-BB Nikolai Bukharin (31 HP, 5 OS)
UNS-CV Shamokin Rising (16 HP)_

_2x Fighter Wing (5 HP, 5 HP)_
_Destroyer Unicorn (8 HP)_
_Destroyer Undine (8 HP)_
_
Battlegroup Splinter (Range 5)
Interdiction: 1d6+2
UNS-BB Richard Wagner (26 HP)
UNS-LS Björn Járnsiđa (14 HP)

Battlegroup Sour Brains (Range 5)
Interdiction: 1d6+2
MSMCS We Demand Hazard Pay (25 HP)_

_4x Mounted Chassis Wing (5 HP, 5 HP, 5 HP, 5 HP)_
_MSMCS Facefirst (8 HP)_
_MSMCS Fool's Gold (8 HP)_
_
*2nd Expeditionary Fleet (Harrison Armory Colonial Legionate)*

Battlegroup Hannibal (Gyre Center)
Interdiction: 1d6
PCV-DN Hannibal (Turtleback) (35 HP)_

_2x Brothers in Arms (8 HP, 8 HP)_
_
Battlegroup Shaka Zulu (Gyre Center)
Interdiction: 2d6+2
PCV-DN Shaka Zulu (Paladin) (25 HP)_

_2x Roughnecks (8 HP, 8 HP)_
_Ace: Albedo Cavalier (10 HP)_
_
Battlegroup Titania (Gyre Center)
Interdiction: 2d6
PCV-DN Titania (UNKNOWN Man O'War) (35 HP)_

_4x Daggerflight (6 HP, 6 HP, 6 HP, 6 HP)_
_
The Turtleback is a big slow bruiser with heavy siege plating that takes half damage from any attacks from range 5-3. It is accompanied by subline destroyers with baby charge guns.

The Paladin is a sleek advanced battleship with a "jousting" charge gun that shoots just a bit earlier in the Impact step, various buff and debuff abilities, and decent defenses. It has marine transport escorts and an ace with paracausal charge gun technology.

A typical Man O'War is a big brutal battleship with a slow but devastating charge gun and additional batteries for laying down suppressive fire. The UNKNOWN template adds a paracausal omnigun that never misses, and blink-tunneling movement (needs time to power up). Its escorts are a squadron of fast corvettes that can screen it from attacks.

There are additional Harrison Armory battlegroups in Reinforcements (2 carrier groups, 1 battleship group), although they haven't yet committed to converging into the intercept.

The battle has an Environmental Modifier- Sensor Flares.
_


> _Environmental modifier- Sensor Flares: High levels of electromagnetic interference, solar flare activity, derelict IFF transponders, or other such phenomena make utilizing guided weapons more difficult as they waste time tracking phantom signals. Each time a ship launches a Payload attack roll a d6. On a result of 1, add 1 to that Payload’s flight time._



_
And yes, the Turtleback and Paladin have Payload weapons, so they'll suffer somewhat because of this._

Next: More trash talk


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## Tun Kai Poh (Oct 24, 2021)

*Ultimate Remarks*

"Weapons are at 50%, Captain," CGO Bryant says, her face glowing red amidst the sea of blue from the warnings flashing across the screen.

"Starboard SPK is nominal. Systems are holding," calls out one of her gunners. The man next to him reports: "Portside SPK is nearing critical surge capacity. Power coils are close to meltdown." He looks up, "She'll probably blow when we fire."

Caspian nods. "Have all crews clear the port weapons spaces and secure them against damage cascades. Arm the emergency breakers," he stares at the sensor shadows of the distant purview fleet and a cruel smile crosses his lips.

"I do hope you will be impressed at our little light show, Strike Captain," he says quietly to himself.

On board the Richard Wagner, Captain Rodin straps himself into his spacesuit with just a slight sigh of regret. "My first space battle, and no sign of the Rex anywhere."

"Sir, it will get hot enough even without the Rex," says his NHP assistant, Hawker. "The Titania is carrying a Demisolar Lance, which is rated at...well, a significant fraction of the output of a star. If the battle drags on into 2 days, we will see that weapon fire. And that is in addition to whatever that black sphere is."

Hawker highlights what appears to be a globe of utter nothingness suspended over the Titania's bow.

Tiburce Rodin tilts his head. "That sphere reminds me of the omnigun on the Horus Pegasus. The gun that defies physics and never misses?"

"I'm sorry sir, you're absolutely right. A ship-scale omnigun."

Rodin sighs again.




_Horus Pegasus art by Tom Parkinson-Morgan_

A message comes through from the Shaka Zulu to the Nikolai Bukharin, but it is marked Captain's Eyes Only.

Strike Captain Bannon looms large, leaning into the display interface. "The disrespect. The sheer disrespect. That, I will not forgive. Captain St. Germaine, before this fight is done, I swear I shall rake your Second Committee relic from stem to stern!"

"Respect is earned, Strike Captain. It cannot be demanded by force," Tabitha replies coldly, then turns back to open comms. "This is the UNS-BB Nikolai Bukharin of the Union 2nd Crisis Response Group to all encroaching Purview ships. You are violating the Union no-fly corridor and are required to stand down pending an appropriate escort out of the conflict zone. Failure to do so will considered a hostile act and you will be fired upon. This is my third and final warning. Stand down immediately!"

"Well, now that procedure is out of the way, can we shoot?" Caspian smirks slightly.

Tabitha, nods, "I don't think they're going to stand down when they think they have the upper hand, so we give them enough time to get the message, then we start shooting."

Next: Prayers and digital apotheosis


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## Tun Kai Poh (Oct 27, 2021)

*Prayers. Apotheosis.*

On the Shaka Zulu, the Armory crew members work at a brisk pace, clearing the ship for battle. Strike Captain Bannon is in a foul mood, sweeping through deck after deck on last-minute inspections. The junior officers pass around word that the Union fleet took out an equal force of Karrakin ships without taking a scratch. Splinter and Eland have already gained a rep in the Dawnline Shore. They are a force to be reckoned with, no matter what the Strike Captain says.

Every Armory capital ship carries a small garden lounge area, a small piece of Ras Shamra to remind the spacers what they fight for. In the last hour leading up to inevitable engagement, as the two fleets deccelerate and lock into the gyre of battle, some of the Rittermeer crew members stop in the ship's rock garden to press their hands against the slate boulder at its centre, saying a little prayer.

On the MSMCS We Demand Hazard Pay, Major Mahayhay busies herself with the readiness of the mounted chassis wings, ensuring that they have been fitted with breaching charges, CQB loadouts and boarding beacons. Data on the Armory ships is loaded into each mech's COMP/CON or onboard NHP. Where she deems it appropriate, she slaps the odd pilot on the back and gives them encouraging words. She keeps up a solid front that belies her misgivings about their voyage of death.

In his ready room, Colonel Milch revises his final will and testament. Messages to both of his ex-wives, and all seven kids. Despite his outward bravado and bluster, he too has a bad feeling about this battle.

Ship NHPs merge. The fleet legions coalesce.

In the Union fleet's command centres, Aegis greets each captain simultaneously. "Fleet is ready for action, Captain," the legion says to Tabitha. There's a slightly different tone to her voice - of course, Tabitha realises, the mercenaries's NHP, Cunningham, has been integrated into Aegis for this battle as well.

"I'm ready to designate targets for superheavy and primary weapons," says Aegis. "The Richard Wagner will soon suffer battle damage from its overcharging procedures. We will fire before any of the enemy flagships. Two of the Hannibal's destroyers will retaliate with short-spool spinal guns at roughly the same time. The Shaka Zulu's RED GIANT Solar Lance will take some hours more before it can fire. The Titania's Demisolar Lance will fire at the start of the second day of battle. And then, if the Wagner survives, one of its guns might fire again. Some time during this sequence of events, at least one enemy carrier will arrive to join the Armory fleet. These are some of the most probable events we must plan around."

In the Shaka Zulu's CIC, the Armory fleet's digital shipminds knit together and resolve into the towering figure of Aelita, the fleet legion. "Strike Captain, what is thy will?"

Catrina Bannon looks around the virtual battlespace at the faces of her subordinate captains. "We should keep our distance, let our spinal lances do the work. Captain Klukas, I want a curtain of Pulse-Pack Missiles in their path. Let's see if the Red scum want to taste nuclear fire to get to us."

Captain Ashanti of the Hannibal clears her throat. "Our lads on the Siegfried and the Roy will be the first to draw blood with their spinal guns. Who do we kill first?"

"That one." Bannon stabs her finger at one particular ship. "But Titania will be the one to fire first, with the Omnigun and the Harbinger laser. Klukas, soften her up, why don't you?"

"The pleasure will be mine," replies Klukas, stiffly saluting.

Bannon looks up at Aelita. "Coordinate the firing. Ensure the most efficient distribution of damage. Make them bleed."

"Thy will be done."

"Good. Remember, we just need to wait for Gopalakrishnan and his ships. Hold the line. Stall the Reds. Victory is inevitable."


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## Tun Kai Poh (Oct 30, 2021)

*Lasers at a Distance*

The Wagner's bridge crew tensely watch the data readouts as the ship begins to shudder under the massive strain of its overcharging weapons. There is a certain sense of fatalism to their actions as their fingers dance across their datascreens. Most have already put their affairs in order with the crew chiefs firing off last minutes data flashes back to fleet for further action in case anything goes wrong. For many, the specter of death is made only bearable by their sense of duty and the cold comfort that - even if the worst should happen - many of their foes will join them in oblivion.

"They'll probably be shooting at you first," Captain Lutjens of the Björn Járnsíða observes flatly to Caspian Var, "You've got the biggest guns and they'll want to take you out of play before you can fire too many times." Caspian nods coolly.

"Perhaps, though they might well choose to fire on the Captain St. Germaine first seeing that our contribution to the battle is... relatively slow to build up to," He shrugs, "Regardless - we shall see shortly. Gunnery, how are our SPKs looking?"

"Both weapons are already at 250% nominal power loading, Captain," CGO Bryant responds, "80% Charge on both." Caspian nods.

"Make these shots count, Chief," He says. "If we fail, we die."

Even as he speaks, glittering emerald rays reach out from the Björn Járnsíða and caress the Shaka Zulu in their deadly light, disrupting shielding and burning away armor plate.

_Logistics Step:
Battlegroup Splinter: Remove two charge tokens from one of the SPKs, remove one charge token from one of the SPKs. Add two Overcharge tokens to one of the guns and take 2 points of damage.

2 x Harbinger Confidence Lasers on the Björn Járnsíða deal 4 points of damage to the Shaka Zulu.

Battlegroup Hannibal: Brothers in Arms removes 1 charge token from Short-Spool Spinal Guns (1 token remaining).

Battlegroup Shaka Zulu: Shaka Zulu removes 1 charge token from RED GIANT Solar Lance (2 tokens remaining).

Battlegroup Titania: Titania removes 1 charge token from Demisolar Lance (3 tokens remaining) and its targeting laser deals 2 damage to a hostile Capital Ship in range 5-3. It chooses to deal the 2 damage to the Richard Wagner._

Demisolar lances, while not literally drawing half of a star’s energy, demand and output truly staggering wattages. Even a Demisolar’s targeting laser can kill a ship: a square hit will take anything out of the sky.

The Richard Wagner feels the strike of the 'hot' targeting laser against its bow. Temperatures rise alarmingly.

_Titania also adds 1 charge token to its Naphoros Omnigun, which then deals damage equal to the number of charge tokens to a hostile target in range 5-0 (cannot be prevented in any way). It chooses the Björn Járnsiđa._

Lutjens' tactical officer speaks up: "Sir, I don't understand what happened, but we've been hit - just a glancing strike of some kind, no idea what it was. Very minor damage. But they may be ranging in."

_System: Pulse-Pack Missiles (adding 2 Reloading tokens)
The Man O’War launches a massive volley of multi-warhead missiles that blanket an area in devastating explosions and deadly radiation. During the Logistics Step, choose one range band from 4-3. The Titania chooses Range 4. Until the next Logistics Step, any enemy battlegroup that ends their turn in the chosen range band takes 2d6 Area damage._

Aegis reports that the Titania has mined the approach vectors with nuclear missiles. "Capital ships and escorts alike will be taking dangerous levels of hard radiation if we spend too long in their area of effect. They're using these weapons to play keep-away, and it's a strong disincentive for our fleet. What do you want to do?"

"Damn the mines, full speed ahead," Tabitha snarls, "I want all power to the engines, signal the group - emergency maneuvers!"

Next: Helldive


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## Tun Kai Poh (Oct 31, 2021)

*Helldive*

_Battlegroup Eland: Tactic - Emergency Maneuvers. Battlegroup Eland moves to range 4._

The crew of the Nikolai Bukharin simultaneously clench as the massive ship surges forward, its inertial dampeners straining to keep the men and women in place and in one piece, even as the first series of nukes go off. The crew watches with growing apprehension as momentum builds towards the ever growing energy blooms on their screen.

Tabitha is watching as well, tensely, timing it - there; a series of detonations go off close at hand, momentarily scrambling screens on the Bukharin's bridge. But the Titania's Pulse-Pack launchers cannot launch fast enough to carpet the area completely at all times - and Tabitha seizes on this.

The timing is meticulous as the ships of Battlegroup Eland plunge into the storm of nuclear hellfire with Tabitha calling out course corrections to the increasingly harried updates from the Bukharin's sensor teams, calculating launch times and ballistics amid the continuing series of detonations.

Then with one last order "All ahead full!" Battlegroup Eland surges through the killzone - their hulls singed but intact - and their guns swinging to bear flash a defiant reply.

_Battlegroup Eland: Maneuver - All Ahead Full!, move to range 3.
Heavy Kinetic Battery fires on one of the Brothers-in-Arms; Roll: 9 (hit), Damage 5
Barrage Doctrine (Trait): Destroyers both fire, Damage: 2 + 2
One of the Brothers-in-Arms is destroyed._

"Battlegroup Eland is beginning its dive," reports Aegis to Colonel Milch and his bridge crew. The Bukharin and its accompanying ships steadily accelerate toward the sea of pips representing the pulse-pack missiles.

"Well, damn. Follow her in," Milch orders. Around him, the Mirrorsmoke crew check their straps and make preparations for the helldive. At the Liability station, Zoltan Pesh updates the risk assessment for the We Demand Hazard Pay.

The Sour Brains follow Battlegroup Eland into the fight. The journey into scope range is harrowing, and the hours tick by, punctuated by the many nuclear detonations.

On the Hannibal, Captain Ashanti grinds her teeth as she watches the approach. She shouts orders to the legion and the bridge crew. "Track the flagships with dorsal and ventral batteries, spin them up when we see them in scope range. Load swarm missile tubes and start printing reloads, because we're going to need them."

Surprisingly, the Bukharin and its companions come through with barely any damage. And they come through firing.

Captain Ashanti blinks in disbelief as the destroyer Siegfried, just a dozen kilometers off to starboard, goes up in a flash of kinetic impacts. The Bukharin's accurate shells smash into the subline ship's bow. Then, following fire from the Undine and Unicorn finishes the job.

"Siegfried is gone," Aelita reports. "No sign of ejections."

Ashanti pounds a gloved fist into her command panel. "Tell Bannon we're moving to engage!"


----------



## Tun Kai Poh (Nov 1, 2021)

*Boarding Exchange*

But Bannon has already planned for this. The Shaka Zulu's advanced systems and robust CIC design allow its Fleet Legion to coordinate multi-pronged offensive advances across the entire theater. Targeting data cross-referenced from all three Armory battlegroups is fed to fire control teams. "These are priority targets," Bannon tells them.

Alongside the flagship, its escorts take action. The marine transports launch boarding skiffs at Battlegroup Eland. A lone mech launches from the Shaka Zulu's belly catapult, and a zero-point beam cannon lashes out, testing the Bukharin's shielding.

_Battlegroup Shaka Zulu takes its Action Step.
1. Maneuver: Coordinated Advance, it chooses one of the options - Lock On to one or two hostile Capital Ships. Targets are Nikolai Bukharin and Richard Wagner.
2. The Roughnecks use Tactic: First On, Last Off to launch boarding skiffs at two Capital Ships within Range 3-0: Nikolai Bukharin and Shamokin Rising.
3. Albedo Cavalier uses Maneuver: 0 Beam. Deal 1 damage to a hostile Capital Ship or Escort in range 3-0, then add a heat counter to the 1 Beam ability (it deals more damage, the more heat it has). The Cavalier automatically hits the Nikolai Bukharin for 1 damage to its Overshield.

Next is the players' turn. They choose to let the mercs act._

As the fleets close the unpredictability gap and the first shots start to cross the kill zone between them, the Mirrorsmoke marines are already hurtling towards enemy battleships in their landers. The Shamokin Rising's fighters dart out to safeguard the landers on their way out. "Godspeed, Sour Brains," signals Lieutenant Vau as the deadly cargoes speed to their destinations.

Far behind him, the We Demand Hazard Pay disgorges its chassis wings: Raleigh and Everest frames, bulked up with high-powered flight mounts, toting fusion torches and assault rifles. But they're still just taking off, and won't reach their targets as soon.

_Battlegroup Sour Brains:
1. Maneuver: Legionspace Siren. Sour Brains advances to Range 4. One enemy battlegroup must then choose; either they cannot take or benefit from actions or effects that would move player battlegroups any number of range bands until the end of their next turn or a Capital Ship of your choice in that range band takes 1d6 damage. Target is Battlegroup Hannibal.
2. Tactic: Emergency Maneuvers to move Sour Brains to Range 3.
3. Facefirst and Fool's Gold use Tactic: First On, Last Off to launch boarding parties at Hannibal and Titania.



_
_Nelson Flight Type by Peyton Gee_


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## Tun Kai Poh (Nov 3, 2021)

*A House of Flying Daggers*

The narrowing space between the flagships fills with smaller missiles and point-defense gunfire as the Titania's escort corvettes lunge into action. The dagger-shaped vessels make strafing runs at the Nikolai Bukharin and the Mirrorsmoke carrier. Aegis also marks Unicorn and Fool's Gold on the CIC display in amber, indicating some damage.

But the Titania's primary batteries bark mostly ineffectively at the Bukharin. The Thoreau Class Battleship's forward interdiction screens and shields fend off the worst of the shots.

"Klukas, what the Hell kind of gunnery is that?" Bannon shakes her head ruefully. "You wasted our targeting solutions. If we survive this, I expect major improvements!"

"Yes, Strike Captain," he replies in a monotone.

_Battlegroup Titania:
1. Maneuver: Counter-Battery Fire, a Single Target Attack at Range 4-0 aimed at Nikolai Bukharin, and consume Lock On. Roll: 8 total, which misses. Reliable damage 2 chips away at the Overshield some more.
2. The Daggerflight uses Maneuver: Battery Fire. Deal 2 damage to a different target Capital Ship or Escort within range 3-0 for each ship remaining in this Escort group. Since there are 4 Corvettes in the Daggerflight, they deal 2 damage to Nikolai Bukharin, 2 damage to Unicorn, 2 damage to We Demand Hazard Pay, and 2 damage to Fool's Gold. Fool's Gold has the trait Point-Defense Kinetics which deals 2 damage back at the Daggerflight automatically._


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## Tun Kai Poh (Nov 4, 2021)

*Targeting Priorities*

"It looks like the Bukharin is drawing their fire sir," Chief Van Ghent notes, as they watch the sensor blips swarm around Battlegroup Eland and the Sour Brains. The Wagner's bridge lighting is transitioning from a calming blue to a considerably more alarming red as the titanic vessel shudders from the massive overcharge building in its guns.

Caspian nods in satisfaction "Very well then, that leaves us free to set things up. Gunnery, how does it look?"

"Starboard SPK is 110% and staying with the curve. Port SPK is at 128% and climbing. We're keeping it under control but only barely," CGO Bryant reports as yet another tremor runs through the Wagner's kilometer long hull. "Targeting solutions are nominal."

"Noted, Gunnery - Sensors: I want a firing solution on the Titania."

"Sir?" Bryant looks up, "Didn't Captain St. Germaine tell us to deal with the Shaka Zulu first?"

"She did, but I am exercising my authority to prioritize targets as necessary, Chief. We can kill the Shaka Zulu with just a tap of our main guns but the Titania will take considerably more of a pounding to deal with and I don't think Captain St. Germaine is going to be able to turn her attention to it anytime soon." He looks down at the plot.

"I don't like weird-tech on my screen, so I am ordering you to remove it from my screen."

"Yes sir," CGO Bryant looks back at her screen and taps out the necessary adjustments.

The Omninet is still experiencing a bit of signal degradation from the stellar flare activity, so Major Mahayhay's transmission is briefly smeared and jumpy. She doesn't sound pleased.

"I see you're increased targeting priority on the Titania, Captain Var. I'm sure you're aware that we have hundreds of our marines breaching her hull as we speak, correct? I'm sure you have a good reason for this."

In all fairness, the developing tactical situation as shown by the fleet legion over the past hours has alarmed quite a few officers. The amount of firepower that the Titania is lending to the fight - and the charging weapons it has yet to unleash - has led Aegis to highlight the ship for higher attack priority. The battlegroup captains have already been wondering if a change in targets is needed. And the marines knew the risk when they set out...

"We must remove as many pieces from the board as quickly as possible, Major, before the damage begins to add up." Caspian stares intently at the tactical scope as CGO Bryant looks in askance at him.

"Fine, Gunnery - open the breakers. Prepare to for an immediate power dump into the Starboard SPK as soon as we've fired." The entire weapons crew turn at that.

"Sir - that will guarantee we fry every circuit between gun decks A and B and will almost certainly blow the starboard SPK," Bryant says, cocking her head.

"I understand, Chief. I also understand that you will obey my orders as necessary. Open the breakers, lock down all weapons spaces. Sensors, switch our target lock to the Shaka Zulu," Caspian rasps between his teeth. Then he turns back to fleet comms.

"You have your time, Major. Make sure it counts. Understand - unless your Marines can take the Titania out of the fight, I will fire _both_ weapons at it and damn the consequences!"

"CSO! Engage the tractor beams. If we are going to have to take it on the chin I want our ships protected. Close the Sandstorm around the Björn Járnsíða."

_Battlegroup Splinter:
Tactic: Lithoscreen on the Björn Járnsíða. Gain 5 Overshield
Tactic: Lock Firing Solution - Target: PCV-DN Shaka Zulu_


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## Tun Kai Poh (Nov 5, 2021)

*Ill Met In Legionspace*

_Battlegroup Hannibal:
1) Maneuver: Heavy Kinetic Battery Fire, Single Target Attack at Range 4-0, targeting two ships (Nikolai Bukharin and We Demand Hazard Pay). Roll of 16 hits the Bukharin for 6 damage, roll of 6 misses the We Demand Hazard Pay. This is pretty much all it can do. Its movement options are currently shut down by the Legionspace Siren._

"Understood, Captain Var," says Major Mahayhay, without managing to look much happier. "My marines have orders to sabotage fire control, spike the drives, and get out once the ship starts to die. Thank you for keeping me in the loop."

She closes the channel.

The Hannibal sits in place, pounding away with its primary guns, attempting to find the range on the Bukharin and the mercenary carrier. A barrage strikes the Bukharin amidships, wrecking Printer Bay C and killing dozens of spacers. We Demand Hazard Pay is more fortunate, gliding right between volleys of cannonfire.

In the spaces between spaces, in the Blink, hostile ontological signals worm into Aelita's legionspace.

<Do Not Proceed>
<Drive Not Available>
<Maintain Present Course>

She knows these signals are foreign, yet the Hannibal cannot accelerate or decelerate further. She reaches out to engage the turtleback ship's drives - nothing.

"You won't have luck with the drives, unless you want to turn the crew into jam."

Aelita turns to see her opposite number manifesting in legionspace.

Aegis presents as a knight, clothed in mail and bearing a tower shield emblazoned in Union red. She gives a little salute to the Armory legion.

Aelita stays loose on her feet, letting her arms float in neutral position at her sides. "I just didn't think that Union would stoop to using pirate tricks."

"Call it what you want. You shall not pass."

Aelita draws twin swords into digital existence. "If you've come to test my defenses, I will have to disappoint you. My component minds are made in Ras Shamra, Armory-forged and harder than the heart of a gas giant. My fleet will win."

"Come on, then."

The two fleet legions clash, locking esoteric weapons together to produce an unreal bonfire of cosubjectivities.

Next: Boarding parties


----------



## Tun Kai Poh (Nov 7, 2021)

*A Hard Rain*

"Boss! Over here!" The shout comes from just up ahead - Printer Bay C in Sector 52A. Of all the luck. This is the second time the Bukharin has been hit in this exact spot.

The damage control chief, Aaronsen, hurries up the passage. His team follows close behind. "Coming!" he shouts. "Any casualties?"

Loose-leaf debris drifts past, along with globules of blood. At the end of the passage, a shaky figure in a vac-suit floats out, covered in blood and ash. "All the others are gone...just gone..."

"Get that spacer to the aid station!" Aaronsen orders.

Entering the ruined cavity that once was the printer bay, Aaronsen surveys the scene. The void of space can be seen through a massive hole in the hull. He calls up Warrant Officer Gbeho. "Hull breached here. Sixteen dead, one in shock. Printer is a total loss, and we have some bad hull vibrations. Tempted to call it a -"

He stops. There is a flash just outside, in the black sky, maybe half a klick out.

Then a heavy rain starts spattering against the edges of the hole.

"Sorry, I got distracted, Chief. Surprise weather. It's raining marine bits."

_Boarding Step
Mirrorsmoke marines (Facefirst) board Hannibal, roll 20! Success, so they get a foothold and shut down the Turtleback's primary drives. The ship cannot perform any forced movement next round.
Mirrorsmoke marines (Fool's Gold) board Titania, roll 6. They have trouble breaching their way through hull plating.

Shaka Zulu's Roughnecks board Nikolai Bukharin, roll 7. They fail to get a foothold.
Shaka Zulu's Roughnecks board Shamokin Rising, roll 6. They fail also._


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## Tun Kai Poh (Nov 8, 2021)

*State of the Fleets*

_End of Round.

State of the fleets:

*2nd Crisis Response Group (Union Navy)*

Battlegroup Eland (Range 3)
Interdiction 1d6+2
UNS-BB Nikolai Bukharin (25 HP), 1 volley token on 3x3 Block Short-Spool Cannons, boarding attempts by Tenacity 10 Marines.
UNS-CV Shamokin Rising (16 HP), boarding attempts by Tenacity 10 Marines._

_2x Fighter Wing (5 HP, 5 HP)_
_Destroyer Unicorn (6 HP)_
_Destroyer Undine (8 HP)_
_
Battlegroup Splinter (Range 5),
Interdiction: 1d6+2
UNS-BB Richard Wagner (22 HP), 1 charge token and 2 overcharge tokens on Spinal Petajoule Kinetic, 2 charge tokens on Spinal Petajoule Kinetic, Lock On.
UNS-LS Björn Járnsiđa (13 HP, 5 OS from Sandstorm)

Battlegroup Sour Brains (Range 3)
Interdiction: 1d6+2
MSMCS We Demand Hazard Pay (23 HP)_

_4x Mounted Chassis Wing (5 HP, 5 HP, 5 HP, 5 HP)_
_MSMCS Facefirst (8 HP)_
_MSMCS Fool's Gold (6 HP)_
_*2nd Expeditionary Fleet (Harrison Armory Colonial Legionate)*

Battlegroup Hannibal (Gyre Center)
Interdiction: 1d6
PCV-DN Hannibal (Turtleback) (35 HP), Boarded by Tenacity 10 Marines. Disabled Primary Drives: Cannot use or benefit from movement abilities until end of its next turn._

_1x Brothers in Arms (8 HP), 1 charge token on Short-Spool Spinal Guns (1/2 strength)_
_
Battlegroup Shaka Zulu (Gyre Center),
Interdiction: 2d6+2
PCV-DN Shaka Zulu (Paladin) (21 HP), 2 charge tokens on RED GIANT Solar Lance, Lock On._

_2x Roughnecks (8 HP, 8 HP)_
_Ace: Albedo Cavalier (10 HP), 1 charge token on 1 Beam._
_
Battlegroup Titania (Gyre Center)
Interdiction: 2d6
PCV-DN Titania (UNKNOWN Man O'War) (35 HP), 1 charge token on Naphoros Omnigun, 3 charge tokens on Demisolar Lance, 2 reloading tokens on Pulse-Pack Missiles. Boarding attempts by Tenacity 10 Marines._

_4x Daggerflight (6 HP, 6 HP, 6 HP, 4 HP)_


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## Tun Kai Poh (Nov 9, 2021)

*Pattern Breaker. Shipbreaker.*

Caspian's face tightens angrily at reports of the problems the Mirrorsmoke marines are having in breaching the Titania's hull. No matter - it was a calculated risk. He turns to the comms screen.

"Major Mahayhay, recall your Marines immediately from the Titania. Get them out of the blast zone as expeditiously as possible. The Titania will not be allowed to complete its charge up procedures. Gunnery - start pushing charge from the Port SPK to starboard."

"Already at 150% charge Captain," Bryant says, her eyes never leaving her systems screen glowing a seething crimson before her, "Port SPK is holding at 115% charge and climbing," The ship shudders as if to underline her statement as the Wagner's mighty SMESs strain under the titanic loads.

Caspian nods, "Very well then. Take out the Shaka Zulu then prepare for emergency surging procedures to take out the Titania," Just ahead and below, the Björn Járnsiđa once more lashes out at the Shaka Zulu with its twin Harbingers, vaporizing armor and tearing rents in her outer hull.

_Battlegroup Splinter:_
_Remove one charge token and add one overcharge token on SPK1 - weapon will fire on impact phase. Remove one charge token and add one overcharge token on SPK2 - 1 charge token remaining UNS-BB Richard Wagner takes 2 points of damage._
_Björn Járnsiđa fires 2x Harbinger Confidence Lasers - deals 4 damage to the Shaka Zulu_

On the bridge of the PCV-DN Shaka Zulu, Strike Captain Catrina Bannon watches as charge countdowns for the Roy and the Richard Wagner reach zero. 

"Aelita, activate LAP anti-photon OVERPLATE sheathes. Let's show them our tiger stripes."

"Affirmative, Strike Captain."

In an instant, the Shaka Zulu's sensor outline is shot through with slashes of darkness. A dreadnought becomes a constellation of splinters.

"Fascinating," says Aegis to the Union captains. "It resembles a modern version of what classic navies called 'pattern-breaker camouflage.' Estimated 20% target profile reduction." To Caspian, she adds: "Spinal Kinetic Cannon is ready to fire."

_Battlegroup Hannibal: _
_Brothers In Arms removes 1 charge token from Short-Spool Spinal Guns, ready to fire.

Battlegroup Shaka Zulu: Shaka Zulu removes 1 charge token from RED GIANT Solar Lance, and uses System: Low Albedo Plating to gain +4 Defense until its next Logistics Step (Reloading 2)._

_Battlegroup Titania: Titania removes 1 charge token from Demisolar Lance. Its targeting laser deals 2 damage to Richard Wagner. Titania adds an omnigun charge token to Naphoros Omnigun. Titania removes a Reloading token from Pulse-Pack Missiles._

Caspian doesn't say anything and simply nods silently at Bryant. The CGO nods in reply, checks the last series of calculations on her screen and hits the fire button.

The lights on the Wagner's bridge flicker and the mighty warship groans as it physically decelerates as the starboard SPK discharges slinging its hyperdense payload at the Purview battleship at the head of a coruscating energy beam.

Bryant's gunnery team has done its job well. Despite the sudden appearance of the Shaka Zulu's deceptive electro-optical spoofing, the shot slams into the dramatically evading ship at a vicious angle, blasting through its shields and outer armor plates, shearing massive chunks out of the vast structure, dramatically venting atmosphere into space. The slug gouges a kilometer-long gash before shearing off and clipping one of the Roughnecks attempting to board the Bukharin, tearing a large section out of its rear hull before continuing on into the cold void.

On top of killing the Shaka Zulu and damaging one Roughneck, the other Roughneck is also destroyed in the ensuing explosion.

A tiny number of survivors make it to the lifeboats.

The maimed Roughneck and the single Ace mech head for the shadow of the Hannibal for shelter.

_Richard Wagner SPK roll: 14 (4,1,1)
Damage: 15+2+3+3 = 23 damage to the Shaka Zulu (21 HP at start of round, 4 points of damage from the Harbingers for 27 points of damage this round (31 total) for a damage result of -6)
Damage: 5 points to the Roughneck engaging the Nikolai Bukharin_

Next: Below the Fold


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## Tun Kai Poh (Nov 10, 2021)

*Metafold, Part 1*

Caspian watches with satisfaction as the crippled Shaka Zulu tumbles out of control from the momentum imparted by the hit. The massive warship seems to flex along the axis of the impact as lights begin to wink out along its hull. Then it begins to break up, the entire bow shearing off from the damage, spewing debris and loose gasses as it goes. The rapidly tumbling, uncontrolled hulk then slams full tilt into one of its Marine transports, crushing it like an egg and breaking the hull up even further, adding to the carnage.

"Target destroyed, port SPK at 125%. Zeroing in on the Titania," Bryant states matter-of-factly.

"Good shot, Captain," says Major Mahayhay over the Omninet. "I'm giving my marines a few minutes to see if they can do some more sabotage, then I'll tell then to run. And watch your twelve, Captain, the rest of the Purvies are going to -"

The transmission cuts off in static. More of that stellar flare activity.

Off to the Richard Wagner's flank, the Björn Járnsiđa huddles behind its makeshift shield of asteroid rock. A paracausal projectile, seemingly materializing out of nowhere, spalls off the asteroid shielding. The Omnigun is repeating fire on target, and it's getting stronger.

_The Roy fires at the Richard Wagner, to avenge the Siegfried, not using Lock On since someone else is planning to use that. Roll: 2. Accuracy dice both rolled 1, so a huge miss.

The Titania's Omnigun pings Björn Járnsiđa for 2 to the Overshield._

On the bridge of the Titania, there are gasps of astonishment and a few drawn-out curses. The Shaka Zulu - destroyed just like that.

Captain Ermin Klukas raises a hand to order silence, and get the crew's attention. "Signal the fleet - as senior officer in the immediate area, I am assuming command. We will not stand back any longer."

Aelita shimmers on the screen behind Klukas. The fleetmind is diminished from her fight with Aegis, and from the death of the Shaka Zulu, but she maintains her imposing visage. "I have picked up signals from the lifeboats trailing the Shaka Zulu's wreck. Strike Captain Bannon has escaped and will be raising her flag on the Hannibal."

Klukas' expression doesn't change. "She's not on the fleet legion channel now, is she?"

"No, her lifeboat does not have the facilities -"

"Then I am in command for the moment, and I intend to salvage this fight. When the Arminius arrives, there will still be some semblance of a fleet for it to join. Is the tunneler ready?"

"Yes, Captain," replies the Special Weapons Officer, Lieutenant Marken.

Klukas gestures at Battlegroup Eland. Then at Battlegroup Splinter. "Target them. Initiate Metafold Breach."



> Metafold Breach (System)
> 
> _Space lurches and twists around you, folding in upon itself. The impossible, however improbable, is briefly made possible, and the lines of battle are suddenly redrawn._
> 
> After the Impact Step, but before anyone begins their Action Step, you may activate this system and choose one; you may advance or push back a hostile battlegroup one range band or pick two hostile battlegroups one or two range bands apart from one another and force them to switch range bands. Switching range bands this way does not count as movement and cannot be affected by things that affect or are triggered by movement. This system may only be used during even numbered rounds (round 2, round 4, etc).







_Michel Ney-Class Dreadnought by @Lymphowned_


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## Tun Kai Poh (Nov 11, 2021)

*Metafold, Part 2*

The stars...are not where they should be.

Aegis stutters as a hundred thousand kilometers of light-lag throw her Omninet-to-realspace connections into confusion. The fleet legion is briefly silent. It takes a full three seconds for her to realise what is happening.

On the bridge of the Nikolai Bukharin, the human crew are starting to realise what their impossible sensor readings are telling them.

Aegis speaks at last. "Captain St. Germaine, we have been...moved."

On the bridge of the We Demand Hazard Pay, Colonel Milch growls. "What?!" He stares disbelievingly at the battleship in formation next to his vessel.

It's the Richard Wagner. And alongside it, the Björn Járnsiđa.

"This is bad," says Major Mahayhay. "They're going to get jumped."

"Where are the destroyers?" asks Zoltan Pesh. "The fighters, the carrier?"

Colonel Milch looks at his readout, still shaking his head. "Mother of Pearl. They're all back out there, the entire Battlegroup Eland, a hundred thousand klicks behind us, where the Wagner should be!"

The Hannibal remains unable to maneuver. A handful of defiant mercenary marines have taken key positions near the drives and are keeping this ship locked in place. But the Titania surges forward, beginning its charge towards the Wagner.

"Aegis!" shouts Colonel Milch, "Tell Captain Var we can run interference! We'll get in the way of that thing and scramble its nav control, buy some time!"

Next: The Wagner Herself


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## Tun Kai Poh (Nov 12, 2021)

*Places, Places*

_Battlegroup Eland is now at Range 5. Battlegroup Splinter is now at Range 3._

Caspian looks at the plot in annoyance, "I appreciate the sentiment Colonel but I am considerably more worried about getting picked apart or boarded by these pests." He highlights the sole surviving Roughneck and the Zulu's orphan mech. He straightens and speaks a little louder, as much to his stunned crew as to the leader of the Sour Brains.

"This cannot be allowed to interfere with the unfolding of our plan. We will fire all weapons with all the power we can muster at the Titania and - if we have any left over - any additional reinforcements if and when they arrive. The displacement of the Bukharin is a problem but it does not immediately concern us. It only matters that the Wagner survives long enough unmolested to destroy the Titania."

"If we survive, WE will be the ones closing in. We have our Razorbacks and an express delivery of frigate sized rocks. And if anyone is still standing, we have the Wagner herself." His eyes narrow.

"Clear the space around us and make sure nothing gets in our way of our guns. Take it away, Colonel. Tabitha? I will need the Bukharin to provide targeting information for us. I have a feeling we will have our hands full very soon."

"'If anyone is still standing, we have the Wagner herself?'" Zoltan Pesh exchanges a look with Mahayhay, then starts fussing with a datapad.

"What are you doing?"

"Updating my risk assessment of the Union battleship."

"Waste of time." Mahayhay turns and delivers her orders to the mechanized chassis wings. "Laurent and Guiscard Wings, hunt down the surviving mech from the Shaka Zulu. Bernadette and Isabeau Wings, seek and destroy the Armory's remaining marine transports."

Isabeau Leader voices an objection: "Most of the smaller landers are circling the Shamokin Rising and Nikolai Bukharin. 30 minutes away."

"Well, focus on the ones around here. And if you see any of those corvettes, swat them too."

The internal lights of the lifeboat are dim, and a wounded crew member is strapped next to Strike Captain Bannon. He groans and tries to clutch at his bloody face, but can't free himself from the restraints. He's all that's left of Bannon's crew.

Two years in charge of six hundred proud Rittermeer spacers. All gone now.

A seat over, the humming NHP Core of the Shaka Zulu has been strapped in just as tightly. Once they get to the Hannibal, it will be plugged in and connected with the Omninet, restoring Aegis to her full capabilities. Given how slowly the lifeboat is inching along, it could be hours before they reach the battleship.

Somewhere, an air vent is hissing incessantly. Groans continue. It's very stressful. Bannon keeps her suit helmet close by in case O2 levels drop too low.

The former fleet commander keeps her gaze focused on the small terminal in front of her. The lifeboat's systems are too limited to join the fleet legion, but there's a simplified partition of Aegis running on the terminal. If the multi-NHP mind of Aegis was an almighty triumvirate deity, the partition is a small god, like the kind that manages a tiny shrine at the roadside.

The partition tries its best to show Bannon a smooth and cohesive report of the battle, but it's slow and laggy, making it an extreme exercise in frustration.

She watches the mech assault unfold, helpless to affect the battle in any way.

The Mirrorsmoke mercenary mechs fly into the shadow of the mighty Hannibal, where the surviving Roughneck transport and the strange lone mech are regrouping. The mercs are eager to finish the last of Shaka Zulu's battlegroup.

The Roughneck is completely out of breaching pods and boarding skiffs - they're all still out there somewhere, attacking Battlegroup Eland in their final doomed action. But the marine barge's point-defense turrets are still a threat, blazing away at the approaching Everests and Raleighs of Isabeau Wing. A fatal flash as a mech dies, another flash, another flash.

"Get around the other side, watch that flak - "

"Goddamnit no -"

"Pulling back, I'm overheating..."

These mercenaries lack real space combat experience, and it shows. Well, they were brave, at least.

The Roughneck is also defended by a single stray Daggerflight Corvette, a long way from its berth on the Titania. The corvette trades rapidfire shots with numerous mechs of Bernadette Wing, giving as good as it gets.

Mercenary missile pods and laser rifles continue to tear at the Roughneck. Turret after turret goes silent. One last mech from Isabeau Wing, trailing flame, plunges into the damaged Roughneck at an absurd velocity. The resulting explosion is stunningly bright. The Titania's corvette falls back, its ammo load expended, its hull severely damaged.




_Encounters in Space by Peyton Gee_

Further away, two other wings of mechs swirl around the Albedo Cavalier like fireflies in a frenzy. But killing the advanced chassis is harder than it seems. With its caloric converters, reactor superchargers and aggressive thermal exchangers, every energy-based weapon only fuels its systems further. Laurent and Guiscard Wing peel away, bled of some of their best pilots. The nimble Cavalier flies free, seemingly untouched.

The mercenary mechs have taken painful losses and are fleeing back to their carrier to rearm. But Bannon only feels the Roughneck's loss in her furious heart. "Damn your eyes, Captain St. Germaine," she says. "I will execute you myself..."

_Battlegroup Sour Brains:
1) Tactic: Raiding Party - order 2 Wings to perform Marauders (deal 1d3 damage to a hostile Escort or Wing and take that much damage in return). First target is the surviving Armory Roughneck, roll of 3 damage which is enough to kill it; but Roughnecks have Point-Defense Kinetics and deal 2 damage back to any Escort or Wing that damages it. Mutual annihilation. Second target is one of the Titania's corvettes (the damaged one), roll of 2 damage, which is not enough to kill it._
_2) Tactic: Raiding Party - order 2 Wings to perform Marauders. Both attack the Albedo Cavalier, rolls of 2 and 2. The Albedo Cavalier has the trait Highwire Act, which reduces all damage it takes from hostile sources by 1 to a minimum of 0 when above half HP, and gains +2 to all damage effects when at half HP or below. _

_End result: the surviving Mirrorsmoke Mounted Chassis Wings are at 3 HP, 3 HP and 3 HP, while the last Armory Roughneck goes out in a blaze of glory, and the Albedo Cavalier is at 8 HP._


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## Tun Kai Poh (Nov 13, 2021)

*For Ras Shamra and Rittermeer*

Despite the earlier failure to land a solid hit on the Nikolai Bukharin, the Titania and its escorts are still doing more work than any other Purview battlegroup in this engagement. Amidst a firestorm of secondary turret fire and mech weaponry, the Titania's corvettes rearm in hangar berths, then speed back out across the kill zone, delivering strike after strike against both the mercenaries and the Union ships. Again and again. 

Captain Klukas lays out his intentions. 

"Captain Ashanti, you're doing exactly what we need. Keep firing on the drift, you are the pivot point in our line. The Titania will be the swinging door, and we will close it on that charge-weapon monstrosity in the Union fleet." 

Ashanti's face darkens. "That's not the plan," she says. "The Strike Captain wants us to keep our distance and play for time." 

"The plan got an entire dreadnought shot out from under the Strike Captain," says Klukas drolly. "The sooner we get under the Wagner's minimum range, the better. Their frigate's Harbinger lasers will be unable to touch us. The Red bastards will have no choice but to face us at visual range." 

"Understood, Captain," says Aelita. I will retask the Demisolar Lance to an alternative target." 

Ashanti continues to protest. "The Arminius is almost here! Klukas, you can't do this, you're only my senior by half a term. You have to hold the line until the carriers come." 

"Boldness is what will win this war," Klukas says in his soft voice. "I intend to work for our victory. Unlike you, I didn't purchase my commission."

_Battlegroup Titania:
1) Tactic: Battery Fire. The Daggerflight corvettes deal 2 damage to Bernadette Wing, 2 damage to We Demand Hazard Pay, 2 damage to Richard Wagner and 2 damage to Björn Járnsiđa._
_2) Maneuver: Inexorable Advance. Titania gains 5 Overshield. Advance a hostile battlegroup one range band forward: Battlegroup Splinter to Range 2. _

Crew chiefs throughout the Titania exhort their departments to give it their all, "For Ras Shamra and Rittermeer!" The mighty Purview dreadnought drives forward, aiming to cut off Battlegroup Splinter from the mercenaries. Charged bow plating and forward shields are boosted to maximum strength.

The Hannibal continues to lay down kinetic barrages. The remaining spinal gun destroyer charges its banks for another shot. Stray mercenary mechs dogfight with Armory corvettes. Debris still expands from the shattered Shaka Zulu. The clock continues to tick. Reinforcements are still dashing to join the Armory fleet at dangerous nearlight speeds.

The battle stretches into the second half of the first day.

Next: Triangle


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## Tun Kai Poh (Nov 15, 2021)

*The Closing Triangle*

"Dammit Caspian," Tabitha whispers as she watches the melee develop on the screen. The crew of the Nikolai Bukharin are still shaken by the sudden reversal with fear and anger etched on their faces as they watch mercenary pilots flicker out of existence, painfully out of range as Battlegroup Eland powers back towards the fray.

"He's going to stand and fight," Tabitha grimaces as she watches the Wagner's kilometer-long hull swing to face the Titania.

"Can he do that?" Elliot Meade asks tensely. "They're almost directly under his guns at this point..." 

"He's going to try. Caspian was never one to step back from a challenge. And he's going to get a lot of people killed," Tabitha grits her teeth and pounds the plot in anger.

"Engineering! Give her everything you've got! Gunnery, get a lock on the Titania! We give him what he needs to work with and try to mop up what's left."

The Bukharin's chasers begin to open up as she slowly claws her way back into range.

"Colonel Milch, Captain Var - everyone hang in there and try to stay alive!"

The Metafold Breach may have relocated its targets, but it did nothing to change their speed and momentum. The Thoreau-class battleship and its battlegroup continue their advance at maximum burn. The short-spool cannons hum with growing power. The heavy kinetic primaries lay volleys down what feels like the longest gun range Tabitha's ever seen.

The sensor dots that represent the Wagner and the Titania keep getting closer together while the We Demand Hazard Pay falls behind, like the corner points of a narrowing isosceles triangle. Minutes stretch out, while the escorts and wings clash around Battlegroup Splinter.

Twenty-eight minutes into the Bukharin's charge, its salvos begin to arrive, to streak past the Titania's wedge-shaped bow.

Six minutes later, the salvos begin to hit. The impacts smash glowing craters into the Armory dreadnought. Field generators flicker and fail, and fireballs blast through internal bays. But the Titania keeps going toward The Wagner.

_Battlegroup Eland:
Maneuver: All ahead full! 
Move to range: 4 
Fire Heavy Kinetic Battery at the Titania: 19 (-1d6 from difficulty, roll: 1) , 18. Deal 5 damage to the Titania
+1 volley counter to the 3x3 Block Short-Spool Cannons. 2 now stored. Weapon is fully charged
Tactic: Lock Firing Solution - target lock the Titania
Shamokin Rising attempts to repel boarders (rolls: 1)
Nikolai Bukharin attempts to repel boarders (rolls: 1)_

In the chaos and confusion of the breach, the Purview Marines find themselves overlooked as the Union Battlegroup desperately surges forward to come to the aid of their beleaguered brethren.

That is, until CSO Gbeho notices an airlock failure where there shouldn't have been on.

"S---."

He unleashes a string of curses as he flicks the alarm switches as fast as he can, summoning security teams from the bowels of the ship to the potential boarding point.

The decks are soon ablaze with close-quarters fire.




_Boarding Action by Peyton Gee_


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## Tun Kai Poh (Nov 16, 2021)

*Dirtbags*

Breaching charges blast through a security door leading into the maintenance cavity beneath the Hannibal's drives. "Come out, dirtbags!" shouts the Rittermeer security chief, leading his platoon of armoured troopers in.

They stop dead in their tracks. The mercs brought a mech. A small one, just taller than powered armour. Boasting powerful stasis tech and the finest engineering in all of pan-Union space.

The Harrison Armory Napoleon.

It sweeps a powerful displacer gun toward the security platoon, fires a devastating blast that incinerates the front rank. Then it raises shields, walling off the drive section from any retaliation.

The Mirrorsmoke marines still control the engine room.




_Napoleon Art by Tom Parkinson-Morgan_

_Battlegroup Hannibal:_
_1) Maneuver: Heavy Kinetic Battery Fire, at Richard Wagner and We Demand Hazard Pay. Roll 11, which misses Richard Wagner, and 7, which misses We Demand Hazard Pay.
2) Albedo Cavalier uses Maneuver: 0 Beam to deal 1 damage to Richard Wagner and adds another heat token to 1 Beam (now 2 tokens)._

_Attempt to repel Fool's Gold marines: Roll 2, which fails. Those marines can attempt more sabotage during Boarding Step._

On the PCV-DN Hannibal's bridge, Captain Karina Ashanti watches grimly as the ship's batteries fail to land any hits on the Wagner or the mercenary carrier.

Aelita appears on the holographic display beside her. "Sir, we have a situation. Security has finally recaptured drive control."

"So...did we capture any boarders alive?"

"There was no sign of the boarders. We believe they're now moving through maintenance crawlspaces in the lower decks."

"Didn't we have combat subalterns guarding the crawlspaces?"

"They've been destroyed. But there's more. I picked up an Omninet intrusion attempt from inside the ship. An NHP-generated anti-cognitive viral memetic. It's gotten quite far, and we believe several legion nodes in Battlegroup Hannibal are potentially compromised."

"What, how bad is it?"

"I've isolated the infected Legionspace - it affects command and control of the Roy and the Albedo Cavalier. They're unable to act offensively and can't benefit from fleet legion networking in any way."

"Well, dispatch more security! Find the bastards! And how long before you can get our destroyer and mech ace back?"

"We can do it the slow way, which could take up to sixty minutes. Or we can cycle all the Legionspace partitions at once...which would be quick, but potentially painful. I would lose valuable data. Critical systems damage is a major risk."

Aelita displays helpful informatics for Captain Ashanti, all in red and green.

Ashanti purses her lips. "Survivability of the ship is our priority. We can't cycle. We can afford to take hits on our siege plating, but we can't risk the internal damage. Strike Captain Bannon said we have to play for time. The carriers will be here at any moment."

"Understood, Captain."

_Boarding Step:

Mirrorsmoke Marines on the Hannibal attempt Deploy Ontological Payload to either disable all installed Legionspace upgrades, or disable all Wings and Escorts in this battlegroup. Roll: 11.

Roughneck Marines on the Nikolai Bukharin attempt Disable Primary Drives, roll 5, failed.
Roughneck Marines on the Shamokin Rising attempt Deploy Ontological Payload, roll 1, failed.

The Union security teams fight off the sabotage attempts. Running gunfights in the carrier hangars! Fun times._

Next: The Metaphor of the Sword


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## Tun Kai Poh (Nov 17, 2021)

*The Sword, Part 1*

Watching the chaos unfold around him, Captain Caspian Var stands still and erect, as if turned to stone, watching coldly as his crew frantically updates their targeting plots, as the ships of the Union and Purview fleets swirl around in their deadly dance. 

"Sir, the Bukharin has lit up the Titania for us." CGO Bryant says, turning to him, "Just give the order, sir."

He barely nods, scowling at the approaching form of the Titania. "Direct all power to weapons. Begin retrograde burn," Bryant turns to her screen and hits the glowing red "ARE YOU SURE?" button on her her screen.

Immediately, the Wagner shudders violently with an audible groan. Lights blow out throughout the center of the ship, going off like popcorn as the violent energy surge slams through her systems. Within sealed off compartments, sparks fly as massive electric arcs burn through vital systems. On the bridge, the standard lighting goes out, replaced by a dull violet glow of clashing blue battle lights and red warning signs. The crew are flung against their straps as the staggering surge of power momentarily disables the ships' inertial dampners, slamming multiple Gs against her crew for a split second as she powers through her emergency deceleration maneuver.

"Starboard SPK now at 200%. Port SPK is at 150%. Standing by for termination," Bryant reports as the Wagner's massive bulk turns to face the onrushing Titania.

_End of last round's actions, Battlegroup Splinter:_
_Maneuver: Retrograde Burn! 
Move back to range: 3
Tactic: Maximum Power! 
Starboard SPK is fully charged with 4 overcharge tokens_
_Richard Wagner takes 4 points of damage

For larger engagements, the GM is advised to bring in each reinforcement NPC battlegroup at the start of the round after an enemy flagship has been eliminated. At the start of the 3rd Round, before Logistics Phase, the Arminius arrives, dropping out of nearlight drive not far from the other Armory flagships._

In a blaze of light, the battlecarrier PCV-GC Arminius arrives from nearlight. Flak guns turn in their casemates, taking aim at the SWIFT AMITY ships. The three-tiered fighter decks spit out Mahler interceptors and Holst bombers by the dozen.

And spewing out from the ventral bays, a rippling drone swarm. Diluvia.

An ALLCOMMS broadcast: "This is Strike Captain Gopalakrishnan of the 2nd Expeditionary Fleet. Your forces are scattered and wounded, and I have more ships of the line coming in behind me. Speaking as the highest-ranked Purview Command officer present, I urge the Union and mercenary forces present to power down their arms. Those who stand down will not be harmed. I am offering your lives...or the sword!"

As the Wagner's energy signature blooms to match that of a small star, Captain Caspian Var turns to the comms and glares. "This is Captain Caspian Var of the of the Union 2nd Crisis Response Group. There will be no standing down today, Strike Captain. Not from us..." his face twists into a snarl, "...nor from you. You had your chance, and you and your commanders chose death." He turns to Bryant;

"Prepare to fire!"

Next: The Wagner's magnum opus


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## Tun Kai Poh (Nov 18, 2021)

*The Sword, Part 2*

_Round 3. 

State of the fleets: _

*2nd Crisis Response Group (Union Navy)*

_Battlegroup Eland (Range 4)
Interdiction 1d6+2
UNS-BB Nikolai Bukharin (25 HP), 2 volley tokens on 3x3 Block Short-Spool Cannons, boarding attempts by Tenacity 10 Marines.
UNS-CV Shamokin Rising (16 HP), boarding attempts by Tenacity 10 Marines._

_2x Fighter Wing (5 HP, 5 HP)_
_Destroyer Unicorn (6 HP)_
_Destroyer Undine (8 HP)_
_Battlegroup Splinter (Range 3), 
Interdiction: 2d6+2
UNS-BB Richard Wagner (15 HP), 0 charge tokens and 4 overcharge tokens on Spinal Petajoule Kinetic, 1 charge tokens and 1 overcharge token on Spinal Petajoule Kinetic, Lock On. Bolstered.
UNS-LS Björn Járnsiđa (13 HP, 1 OS from Sandstorm). Bolstered. 

The Wagner has taken quite a hammering, pretty much all self-inflicted.

Battlegroup Sour Brains (Range 3)
Interdiction: 1d6+2
MSMCS We Demand Hazard Pay (21 HP)_

_3x Mounted Chassis Wing (1 HP, 3 HP, 3 HP)_
_MSMCS Facefirst (8 HP)_
_MSMCS Fool's Gold (6 HP)_
_*2nd Expeditionary Fleet (Harrison Armory Colonial Legionate)*

Battlegroup Hannibal (Gyre Center)
Interdiction: 1d6
PCV-DN Hannibal (Turtleback) (35 HP), Boarded by Tenacity 10 Marines. Deploy Ontological Payload: All Wings and Escorts are disabled until end of next turn._

_1x Brothers in Arms (8 HP), 2 charge token on Short-Spool Spinal Guns (1/2 strength)_
_Ace: Albedo Cavalier (8 HP), 2 heat tokens on 1 Beam._
_Battlegroup Shaka Zulu (Gyre Center)
PCV-DN Shaka Zulu (Paladin) (-6 HP) 

Battlegroup Titania (Gyre Center)
Interdiction: 2d6
PCV-DN Titania (UNKNOWN Man O'War) (35 HP), 2 charge token on Naphoros Omnigun, 2 charge tokens on Demisolar Lance, 1 reloading token on Pulse-Pack Missiles, Lock On.
- 4x Daggerflight (6 HP, 6 HP, 6 HP, 2 HP) 

Battlegroup Arminius (Gyre Center)
Interdiction: 1d6+4
PCV-GC Arminius (Mastermind Breakwater) (25 HP)_

_4x Fighter-Bomber Wing (5 HP, 5 HP, 5 HP, 5 HP)_
_Diluvia (18 HP)_

An eerie darkness settles on the Wagner's bridge, both figuratively and literally as her crew silence her alarms, waiting tensely, taut faces highlighted by the dimmed glow of their screens. Her gunnery crew is particularly tense, knowing full well the fate of the battle will literally turn on their efforts in the next few hours. CGO Bryant carefully pushes the last few petajoules of power into the port SPK and runs her team through their final calculations.

The gloom is broken by the sudden flash of the Björn's Harbinger lasers as they reach out and touch the newly arrived Arminius: a harbinger, if you will, of the Wagner's impending wrath.

_Battlegroup Splinter:
Remove charge token on the SPK, add one ovrecharge token. Take 1 damage
Harbinger lasers x2 : 4 points of damage on the Arminius_

The Titania's missile racks unleash wave after wave of Pulse-Pack Missiles, seeding the area around Battlegroups Splinter and Sour Brains with nuclear mines. If the Union forces try to form a line at this range, they will suffer for it.

_Battlegroup Hannibal: Brothers In Arms removes 1 charge token from Short-Spool Spinal Guns._

_Battlegroup Titania: Titania removes 1 charge token from Demisolar Lance. Its targeting laser deals 2 damage to Richard Wagner. Titania adds an omnigun charge token to Naphoros Omnigun. Titania removes a Reloading token from Pulse-Pack Missiles, so it's ready to fire. The Titania blankets Range 3 with the Pulse-Pack Missiles (any hostile battlegroup ending their turn there takes 2d6 Area Damage)._

The flash is blinding as the massively overcharged starboard SPK unloads its full fury at the charging Titania sending its hyperdense payload at it at barely below the speed of light. The shot slams headlong into the massive battleship, staggering it and tearing a colossal gash in its hull, several hundred meters longer and deeper than the gash that killed the Shaka Zulu.

But the Titania is apparently made of much sterner stuff. Despite the terrific impact, the ship continues to close, its energy signature glowing threateningly as it brings its own weapons to bear.

Then the second shot hits it dead center.

The titanic battleship flies apart as the second supercharged shot plows through it, gutting it like a fish from bow to stern. Ready use pulse-pack missiles cook off, turning sizable chunks of spaceship into tiny chunks of spaceship as the angry expanding cloud of fire and debris consumes its escorting corvettes even as they desperately flee the maelstrom.

_SPK1 - Target: Titania Roll: 6 (4,2)
Reroll: 14
Bonus damage: (3, 2, 2, 1)
Total damage: 28

SPK2 - Target: Titania Roll: 6 (6)
Bonus damage: (2,2)
Total damage: 19

Impact step weapons fire simultaneously, so the Titania gets a parting shot with the Omnigun for 3 damage to Björn Járnsiđa. Destroying the Overshield on the Björn actually triggers the Sandstorm Vanguard's ability, dealing a further 3 damage to the Titania, which takes it into a level of destruction that leaves nothing to salvage._

The crew of the Wagner say nothing, watching the carnage with cold calculation. They have, within the span of the last 48 hours accounted for two entire Purview capital ships, but at hideous cost to their own ships' integrity. Everyone knows that. And watching the tactical screen and the barrage now barring the path between the Bukharin and the Wagner, they know that they are still alone. Many are silently cursing the mercy that held their hand against the Titania before. Now it is they who will have to pay the butcher's bill.

Caspian breaks the silence.

"Helm, engines, spool up," he points angrily at the image of the Arminius, "Point us at that spaceborne abomination. Gunnery, Security - prepare to launch everything we have left at that thing. Everyone else collision stations!"

Next: Animals


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## Tun Kai Poh (Nov 19, 2021)

*The Sword, Part 3*

"We have fast movers heading towards the Arminius," reports Major Mahayhay. "The Titania's surviving corvettes." 

It makes sense. With the Hannibal's legionspace nodes corrupted, it can't coordinate any escorts. 

"Send our wings to intercept, finish those bastards," says Milch. He knows he's asking a lot from the mech pilots, who have already suffered so much. He puts the thought aside. The Corregidor-built carrier boasts rapid printers that can rebuild and rearm the corvette squadron in mid-battle. They need to be stopped. 

The mechs begin their pursuit, diving to trade fire with the Daggerflight. The results are bloody and predictable. Only one corvette escapes. 

"Point us at the Hannibal, jam her nav, and send more boarding parties," orders Milch. "How long before our mass accelerators are in range?" 

"Fifty minutes, sir." 

"Send message to the fleet: 'We're going to engage the Hannibal in CQB. We'll try not to die for fifty-one minutes.'"

_Battlegroup Sour Brains:_
_1) Battlegroup Sour Brains:
1. Maneuver: Legionspace Siren. Sour Brains advances to Range 2. One enemy battlegroup must then choose; either they cannot take or benefit from actions or effects that would move player battlegroups any number of range bands until the end of their next turn or a Capital Ship of your choice in that range band takes 1d6 damage. Target is Battlegroup Hannibal. Captain Ashanti decides it isn't worth the damage.
2. Tactic: Raiding Party - order 2 Wings to perform Marauders (deal 1d3 damage to a hostile Escort or Wing and take that much damage in return). Bernadette Wing attacks the 2 HP Daggerflight corvette, rolls 3, destroys it and dies as well. Laurent Wing attacks a 1 HP Daggerflight corvette, rolls 1 and destroys it while taking 1 damage._
_3. Facefirst uses Tactic: First On, Last Off to launch boarding parties at Hannibal._

The Facefirst marines have spent most of the battle in transit. Hours of waiting, riding their boarding pods, sealed in sour-smelling battlesuits, limited to intra-unit chatter with very little info about the rest of the fleet, who's alive and who's dead. 

Launching, disembarking and trying to cut into their target ship. Desperate skirmishes with subalterns and security teams, being driven back. Scrambling to reembark on the pods, returning to the Facefirst worn and demoralized. 

Short naps and a quick bite and drink. And now, getting ready for another launch. Drug injectors keep their much-abused bodies sharp and active - for now. 

The Titania is gone. The Mirrorsmoke marines manage a few ragged cheers at the news, despite the frustration of not being able do contribute much, the pain of losing five landing teams on the Titania. 

"We've got our marching orders, straight from the Colonel," announces a marine lieutenant. "We're going to the Hannibal. Keep it locked out of the fight." 

"About time, sir!" shouts one of the corporals. "We can't let the animals from Fool's Gold have all the fun!" 

They're ready to go it again. Once more into the breach.

Next: All Wings, Attack!


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## Baron Opal II (Nov 20, 2021)

Good thing Captain Saint-Germaine still has _Unleash Hell!_ in her back pocket. Otherwise, or despite it, Captain Var is going to need to roll up a new Var.


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## Tun Kai Poh (Nov 20, 2021)

Caspian's player has been running the ship like he's driving a stolen car. Read on to see how that turns out...


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## Tun Kai Poh (Nov 20, 2021)

*The Sword, Part 4*

On the Nikolai Bukharin, more reports of the marine battle filter up to the bridge. "Captain, we have the invaders penned up at the main junction in Sector 40, but they still have sections they can retreat to...we'll try to get around them from outside the hull." 

Aegis reports that, as feared, the long-range greywash swarm is beginning to reach the Bukharin. "There's risk of systems erosion on the port sectors, Captain." 

The incoming strike craft are inside the Wagner's defensive perimeter already. Long-range bombers from the Arminius, and even one remaining corvette from the Titania. The leading missiles are meant to suppress the ship's point-defense systems and shields, opening it up to further damage. But the kilometer-long battleship has already taken so much internal stress, so many power failures, that there's almost nothing to suppress. And the Björn, still effecting damage control operations after the last Omnigun hit, is out of position and not yet able to screen for the Wagner. A hail of bomber-launched ordnance smashes into the Wagner, opening breaches and killing over a hundred crew. 

"Losing power in Sectors 13 to 27, no, wait, 31," reports Chief Van Ghent. "Sir, we're losing her." 

On ALLCOMMS, Gopalakrishnan speaks in a pitying tone: "You chose the sword, Captain. Die by the sword."

_Battlegroup Arminius:__
1) Mastermind Tactic: Strategic Insight. Arminius chooses the option: Until the end of your next turn, you or an ally may reroll one attack of your choice, but must keep the second result.
2) Tactic: All Wings, Attack! The Breakwater scrambles two of its Wings and gives them the Bombing Run command. They deal 1d3+1 each to a hostile Capital Ship or Escort. Target: Richard Wagner. D3 rolls are 3 and 2, for a total of 7 damage to the Wagner. Place 2 Reloading tokens on Bombing Run.
3) Tactic: All Wings, Attack! The Breakwater scrambles two of its Wings and gives them the Close Support command. One Wing gives the Hannibal +1 Accuracy to all Single Target attacks on the We Demand Hazard Pay until the end of their next turn. The other Wing gives the Hannibal +1 Accuracy to all Single Target attacks on the Richard Wagner until the end of their next turn.
4) Diluvia uses Tactic: Drone Control. It takes 3 damage and chooses the option: Engulf, apply 3 greywash counters to a hostile Capital Ship within range 4-0. It chooses Nikolai Bukharin._
_5) Daggerflight (the last one) uses Maneuver: Battery Fire to deal 2 damage to Richard Wagner._


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## Baron Opal II (Nov 21, 2021)

IIRC, The characters have positive and negative attributes. The can use positive ones to get a reroll. These recharge when a negative one is used. How does that work?


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## Tun Kai Poh (Nov 21, 2021)

Baron Opal II said:


> IIRC, The characters have positive and negative attributes. The can use positive ones to get a reroll. These recharge when a negative one is used. How does that work?



Actually, the positive attributes are used for +1 Accuracy (non-stacking +1d6 to a d20 check, additional Accuracy rerolls the d6), not a reroll of a d20. These are used outside of fleet combat, during free play (like in diplomacy and managing the fleet) or Uptime checks just before a battle.

Players may try to invoke those negative traits for rolls during narrative scenes, which will have their own stakes in the fiction (like whether the players can get the cooperation of an NPC), so they can recharge positive traits in preparation of important Uptime checks, since their lives and their ships can depend on getting advantages from the latter rolls.


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## Baron Opal II (Nov 21, 2021)

Okay.

I have a number of earlier space battle rule systems. I suppose I can always use another! The setting is intriguing as well. I am definitely enjoying your battle report / story hour!


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## Tun Kai Poh (Nov 22, 2021)

Baron Opal II said:


> Okay.
> 
> I have a number of earlier space battle rule systems. I suppose I can always use another! The setting is intriguing as well. I am definitely enjoying your battle report / story hour!



 The rules also give notes about integrating a regular LANCER game with the fleet rules - have players control their parent fleet in the Battlegroup system, but when a boarding action affects the ship their pilot party is on, have a corridor-to-corridor fight using the regular LANCER rules instead of rolling for the success of the boarding action!

Alternately, if the LANCER player characters are represented by an Ace Squadron (as is suggested), instead of rolling for the Ace Squadron's boarding attempt on the enemy flagship, have a LANCER fight instead! Fun times.


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## Tun Kai Poh (Nov 22, 2021)

*The Sword, Part 5*

"You gloat too early, Captain. A shattered sword can still slay." Caspian allows a smile to crack across his face as he says that. Then he turns to his crew.

"Engines engage full thrust - keep us moving forward. Richards, bring the Sandstorm in closer around us. Bryant, prepare to launch all our remaining asteroids. van Ghent... have the crew prepare to abandon ship. I want all nonessential personnel in the lifeboats and making their way to the We Demand Hazard Pay as soon as we pass them."

"Lutjens - stand by to cover recover all lifeboats. We know what these scum are like so you'll have to snatch as many people up as possible before the massacres start. Inform Colonel Milch of our intentions." He turns grimly at the Arminius' sensor trace and snarls.

"Full speed ahead!" 

The Wagner begins to accelerate, her battered hull barely holding together as white-knuckled crewmen make preparations for her final charge.

Next: Old friends


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## Tun Kai Poh (Nov 22, 2021)

_Battlegroup Splinter:_
_Maneuver - All Ahead Full! 
Moves into range 2, launches Dorsal Razorback Missiles. Roll of 1 for Sensor Flares, so add 1 to the Payload's flight time. It won't be hitting so soon._
_Tactic:  Lithoscreen: +5 Overshield to the Wagner_


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## Tun Kai Poh (Nov 23, 2021)

*Old Friends*

The imposing bulk of the Hannibal still stands in the center of the gyre of battle, its batteries continuing to shell the Union fleet, only pausing for the time it takes to cool off when they overheat. Several shots land on target, blasting away hangar boxes on the outer hull of the Mirrorsmoke carrier. Others rip away at the Wagner's asteroid shield with terrifying swiftness. One hit penetrates into a generator bank on the starboard side, wrecking it - but then, the Wagner's starboard SPK won't fire again, anyway.

Within the bowels of the Hannibal, the Mirrorsmoke marines continue to move from one deck to another, stopping only to hack into the local Omninet, launching new tech attacks on the dreadnought's systems. The incursion has kept the ship jammed up for the better part of a day. It's a virtual ankle weight, dragging the foot of the fleet.

The lieutenant leading this platoon stops to read an encrypted message from Aegis. Then he looks around. "All right, let's get moving again. The Facefirst's boarding pods are coming in!"

_Battlegroup Hannibal:_
_1) Maneuver: Heavy Kinetic Battery Fire, against both Richard Wagner and We Demand Hazard Pay, with Accuracy. Roll 10+6 against Richard Wagner, which hits for 6 and destroys the Overshield and deals 1 damage to the Wagner. The destruction of the asteroid Overshield deals 3 damage to the Hannibal. Roll 12+6 against We Demand Hazard Pay for 6 danage._

_Roll to repel boarders from Fool's Gold: 7, failed._

Thermonuclear fireballs light up the black sky ahead of the Bukharin. "Again with this," sighs Meade.

"Captain, you have an incoming blink-transmission from the PCV-DN James I," reports Aegis. "Not live - they are still en route via nearlight."

The recorded message pops up on Tabitha's screen. Captain Lowell Petrie has a bit of grey in his black hair, but otherwise his boyish good looks have not changed at all. He sits at his ready room desk, hands on the desktop.

"Tabitha. I know you don't want to do this any more than I do. Everything happening now in the Dawnline Shore, there has to be a better way to negotiate an end to this. We always talked about this, at the late night coffee chats, remember?"

"I'm not getting live updates but I can see from reports that your battlegroup has fallen back. You have chosen restraint, and I'm thankful. You've shown me the way. Let's agree to both detour around this fight and save some lives, shall we? I know in my heart you'll say yes."

Transmission ends.

"That is bold of him to suggest," says Aegis. "It could cost him his career and his life."

Meade is baffled. "Does he not know we were teleported? He thinks we retreated..."


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## Tun Kai Poh (Nov 25, 2021)

*Taking a Breath, Composing a Letter*

Tabitha taps her chin thoughtfully. "Not really. Our orders are to prevent additional belligerents from entering the Shore. Allowing him to bypass the battle means that the Purview still gains reinforcements, even if diminished. Additionally, we cannot take the Bukharin and the rest of Eland out of line - at this point we're the only force still combat capable. The Wagner won't last much longer, there's still a heavy Turtleback that's basically untouched, a carrier that's about to eat a battlecruiser to the face and another carrier that might well drop in even if the James I does not. The Sour Brains have taken a lot of damage as well. I don't give much for their chances alone against two capital ships."

She looks at the chart, now flashing red as damage reports and lifeboat beacons from the Wagner come floating in. The first set of evacuees from the stricken battlecruiser are being packed aboard the Björn even as she accompanies her crippled flagship in its death ride towards the Arminius. 

"We cannot back down from this fight unless he can get his fellow Captains to stand down. Ike - while we're waiting for the pulse storm to clear, gather up the marines and arrest those boarders. Tell them to clear up anything else that might have gotten aboard while they're at it. Meade, get CSO Jordan to do the same for the Shamokin."

"I'll send off a message to Lowell while you're at it."

_Battlegroup Eland:
Maneuver : Clear all boarders. No other actions._

"Lowell. You know that I desire nothing more than to prevent unnecessary bloodshed. Unfortunately the situation as it stands makes it impossible for me to extricate my battlegroup from this conflict. You may not be aware, but we have evidence of war crimes being committed by Purview ships against unresisting civilians. Even as I speak, Union crew are taking to the lifeboats and I cannot in good faith abandon them with this kind of threat hanging over us.

"You are taking a great personal risk proposing this, and for that you have my undying respect but I must decline any sort of quid pro quo between us while active active hostilities remain between Purview and Union forces and the Bukharin and her escorts are the final card to play. I can, however, offer you a truce to recover the survivors of your fleet and allow you to extricate your forces from the conflict zone. 

"It is likely that by the time this message reaches you, the Wagner will be gone along with the Arminius. Your fleet has already lost the Shaka Zulu and the Titania. Whatever mission you and your fellow Captains were on will only be further weakened by additional conflict that even if the Purview should emerge victorious, it will be a pyrrhic one at best, having succeeded in losing the majority of its force for the sake of weakening a Union presence that might otherwise be used to prevent Karrakin units from entering the field."

Tabitha pauses as the sound of gunfire echoes dimly through the ship's vast bulk. Clearly there is some fight left in the Roughneck's marines.

"If it is within your power, please have your fellow Captains stand down. There is no military advantage for them to gain through further conflict. Whatever chance they had in running the Union blockade with any semblance of a battleworthy force is gone and further resistance will only serve to weaken your position regardless of outcome and throw away lives for nothing more than pride."

"Do you think he'll bite?" Captain Ki looks dubiously as Tabitha signs off.

"I hope so. There's been enough blood today," Tabitha says watching the death ride of the Richard Wagner with a mixture of anger and sadness, "In any case, Ki - once the Wagner hits, you're up. You've always wanted to bag a Cap Ship, so you'll have your chance unless Lowell can talk sense into his fellow commanders."

"Somehow I doubt that smug bastard on the Arminius is going to go down without being shot," Ki replies casually.

Next: Never surrender!


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## Tun Kai Poh (Nov 25, 2021)

*Defiant in Defeat*

The Bukharin's security troops advance cautiously across the bullet-scarred deck of Sector 40, shields held before them. Scores of hardsuited Harrison Armory marines stand in the open, under the bright hangar lamps, their hardsuits scuffed and scratched and scorched, their weapons lowered and powered down. Surrender has been negotiated.

But not for all. One makes a break for it. Running for a ragged hole in the hull, where shells from the Hannibal had penetrated before...

A few Union troopers track the fugitive with their assault shotguns. "Sir, do we shoot?" "Hold, hold..."

The other Armory marines watch silently. He makes it to the rent in the side of the hangar. Black sky beyond. He leaps. He won't be taken.

The onlookers lower their weapons as the escapee drifts out away from the Bukharin. Such willpower, to be willing to lose yourself to the void, a truly awful death. Then the Flyswatter launchers lock on.

The missiles streak out and blast the drifting marine into vapour.

_Fool's Gold Marines on the Hannibal attempt Deploy Ontological Payload, roll 16, success._
_Facefirst Marines on the Hannibal attempt Sabotage Fire Control, roll 9, success._

Next: Ladder


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## Tun Kai Poh (Nov 26, 2021)

*Musical Chairs*

Strike Captain Bannon has been on the Hannibal for 30 minutes and she still hasn't managed to take back command of her fleet. Struggling in her emergency vacsuit, she claws her way up a maintenance ladder-shaft. Above her is E3 Nilsson, a deckhand who met her in the damaged mech bay where she landed. Below her are two more deckhands, bringing up the rear with the precious NHP casket from the Shaka Zulu.

A burst of static, and then the voice of Aelita echoes in her helmet: "Strike Captain, you should not be moving around inside the maintenance shaft."

"Well, it's about time you replied! The lift was out! We need to get up to the bridge as fast as possible. No, wait - get me a fleet legion linkup with the other captains!"

"I'm afraid that will be challenging," replies the diminished fleet legion. "This ship is under a severe ontological attack. Escort command network is down, and we are experiencing infrastructural crashes."

"Just patch me to the bridge! This is a fleet command override order!"

A limited mini-display pops up, showing the brutal dance of carriers and dreadnoughts, all pivoting around the Hannibal. The painful sight of the debris fields marked "Shaka Zulu" and "Titania" burns her soul.

"Give me Fleet Comms."

"Yes, sir."

"This is Strike Captain Bannon, I am safely aboard the Hannibal and I will be raising my flag as fleet commander here."

A condescending chuckle. It's Strike Captain Gopalakrishnan. "With all due respect, Strike Captain, we have the matter in hand."

"I don't care what you think, Strike Captain," she hisses back at him. "The Directorate put me in charge here -"

Aelita puts up a warning pop-up. Another Armory carrier is entering from nearlight. The PCV-GC Ching Shih is here now, its launch ports catapulting squadrons of mounted Sherman chassis into the battlespace.

"There! Now we have the forces to finish this fight!"

Captain Ashanti breaks in on the channel, sounding distressed. "Strike Captain Bannon, sir, you have to get back to the mech bay! We have enemy boarding parties crawling all over your sector!"

Seconds later, a burst of gunfire shreds E3 Nilsson, spraying his blood all over Bannon.

An armoured marine lurks in the shaft above - and the outlines of more behind her.

"Good morning, y'all," chirps the marine. "I am Lieutenant Park of the 120th Mirrorsmoke Detachment, and you are now my prisoners!"

Bannon freezes, uncomprehending. How has it come to this?

Over the fleet legion channel, Gopalakrishnan can be heard telling Ashanti that he is taking command once more.

If Aelita could throw her hands up in frustration, she would. "For Ra's sake, we might as well be playing musical chairs."

Next: Last lifeboat


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## Tun Kai Poh (Nov 28, 2021)

*Last Lifeboat*

_Round 4. _

_State of the fleets: 

*2nd Crisis Response Group (Union Navy)*

Battlegroup Eland (Range 4)
Interdiction 1d6+2
UNS-BB Nikolai Bukharin (25 HP), 2 volley tokens on 3x3 Block Short-Spool Cannons, 3 greywash tokens.
UNS-CV Shamokin Rising (16 HP)_

_2x Fighter Wing (5 HP, 5 HP)_
_Destroyer Unicorn (6 HP)_
_Destroyer Undine (8 HP)_

_Battlegroup Splinter (Range 2), 
Interdiction: 1d6+2
UNS-BB Richard Wagner (2 HP), 3 charge tokens on Spinal Petajoule Kinetic.
UNS-LS Björn Járnsiđa (11 HP). 

Battlegroup Sour Brains (Range 2)
Interdiction: 1d6+2
MSMCS We Demand Hazard Pay (15 HP)_

_2x Mounted Chassis Wing (2 HP, 3 HP)_
_MSMCS Facefirst (8 HP)_
_MSMCS Fool's Gold (6 HP)_

_*2nd Expeditionary Fleet (Harrison Armory Colonial Legionate)*

Battlegroup Hannibal (Gyre Center)
Interdiction: 1d6
PCV-DN Hannibal (Turtleback) (32 HP), Boarded by 2x Tenacity 10 Marines. Deploy Ontological Payload: All Wings and Escorts are disabled until end of next turn. Sabotage Fire Control: The boarded ship makes all attacks with +2 Difficulty until the end of their next turn. Inbound Razorback Missiles, 3 flight tokens._

_1x Brothers in Arms (8 HP), 1 charge token on Short-Spool Spinal Guns (1/2 strength)_
_Ace: Albedo Cavalier (8 HP), 2 heat tokens on 1 Beam._

_Battlegroup Shaka Zulu (Gyre Center)
PCV-DN Shaka Zulu (Paladin) (-6 HP) 

Battlegroup Titania (Gyre Center)
PCV-DN Titania (UNKNOWN Man O'War) (-15 HP) 

Battlegroup Arminius (Gyre Center)
Interdiction: 1d6+4
PCV-GC Arminius (Mastermind Breakwater) (21 HP)_

_4x Fighter-Bomber Wing (5 HP, 5 HP, 5 HP, 5 HP), 2 reloading tokens on Bombing Run_
_Diluvia (15 HP)_
_1x Daggerflight (1 HP)_

_Battlegroup Ching Shih (Gyre Center)
Interdiction: 1d6
PCV-GC Chang Shih (Corsair) (25 HP)
- 4x Mounted Chassis Wing (5 HP, 5 HP, 5 HP, 5 HP)_
_- 2x Stalwarts (10 HP, 10 HP)

Logistics Step: The Wagner's Razorbacks remove one payload token. 2 turns to impact. The Hannibal's Brother In Arms removes 1 charge token, so its spinal gun is ready to fire, but it is going to forgo firing this round because of Ontological Payload._

The lights are almost completely out on the bridge of the Wagner, the only illumination being provided being the glow of the crew's screens, many of them flashing dire warnings of systems failures throughout the ship. In his seat, CSO Richards is still managing the evacuation of the last few crew that can be spared out the overloaded lifeboats. At this point he's simply shoving them in as quickly as he can and watching them jettison as they sweep past the We Demand Hazard Pay. From now on, anyone who survives the coming storm will have to take their chances with the Björn - even assuming the frigate itself survives.

The bridge crew itself is down to the absolute minimum to manage the ship, and all of them have their survival suits on, emergency life support packs plugged in and each strapped securely in their seats with crash straps on and deceleration padding fully charged. Caspian is seated next to van Ghent, behind CGO Bryant whose strained face is glued to her screen. No one says anything.

Around them, the ship creaks and groans as she accelerates at ever increasing speed towards the Arminius. A warning flashes on the bridge screen, alerting the crew that the Wagner is close to the do not exceed speed for its trajectory. No one budges. There are thumps and bangs as purview shells slam into the dying battlecruiser, destroying vital internals and venting large portions of the ship to space. But the ship is almost empty anyway. 

200km. Battlegroup Splinter is right on top of the Purview fleet now. Guns flash, flak bursts tear at them as they storm past the Hannibal and straight at the looming bulk of the Arminius. At last, CSO Richards announces "Last lifeboat away."

_Battlegroup Splinter: Tactic - Emergency Maneuver_

100km. The Arminius is no longer just a sensor dot, not a glint of light. It's now clearly visible with the naked eye. CGO Bryant makes last minutes adjustments to her targeting trajectory. Caspian grunts in approval.

50km. The Arminius is now visibly maneuvering. The glow of her exhaust brightens as she seems to belatedly realize the danger she's in. Around them, diminutive fighters swerve wildly to avoid slamming into their suddenly maneuvering carrier or being crushed by the arrival of the Wagner in their midst.

20km. The Purview Carrier's point defense systems open up in a final desperate attempt to stop the Wagner as the Arminius slams itself into reverse in a last ditch maneuver to avoid getting hit. Bryant sees this and simply updates her targeting vectors and hits the release button. On command hundreds of massive asteroids once held in position around the Wagner by her directed tractor beams are cut loose like pellets from a gigantic shotgun arcing straight for the Purview carrier.

5km. The Wagner won't make the turn. The Arminius' helmsmen have managed to turn the ship beneath the Wagner's trajectory. 

For an instant, there's a tense silence.

Then, Bryant ejects one last apartment-sized asteroid right into the path of the Arminius.

_Battlegroup Splinter: Maneuver - Slingshot_


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## Baron Opal II (Nov 28, 2021)

Is ramming an option? That's a little surprising, but they are massive ships.

Picked up Lancer- quite interesting and adds a bit of context to your narrative. Enjoying the battle!


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## Tun Kai Poh (Nov 28, 2021)

Baron Opal II said:


> Is ramming an option? That's a little surprising, but they are massive ships.
> 
> Picked up Lancer- quite interesting and adds a bit of context to your narrative. Enjoying the battle!



Ramming is quite a costly Maneuver. You have to be extremely close (Range 0) and your capital ship and the enemy target both automatically take the same damage (a 2d6 roll).

What Caspian did here was to unleash the Sandstorm Vanguard's Slingshot attack.



> SLINGSHOT Maneuver, Limited 1
> Your battlegroup may advance one range band forward, after which you lob a group of asteroids at a hostile CAPITAL SHIP. This counts as an attack using the following profile:
> 
> Superheavy, Single/Area-Target, Payload Range 3–0, 10 single-target damage + 4 area-target damage
> ...


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## Tun Kai Poh (Nov 28, 2021)

*Breaking, Badly*

The carrier slams bodily into the giant nickel-iron hunk of space debris, the impact instantly caving in her main hangar bay. The momentum of the blow slams the Arminius right back into the Wagner's crippled starboard quarter. The force of the impact is too much for the Wagner's already tattered hull and the entire starboard quarter of the immense battlecruiser shears away just forward of the bridge.

On Fleet comms, Caspian's hologram winks out.

Both ships are tumbling wildly now. Lights all across what's left of the Wagner go out as the ship loses power. The crash alarms sound, immediately inflating the protective nanofoam crash cushions to try to keep the surviving crew on board alive as what's left of the UNS-BB Richard Wagner caroms out of control, slamming into asteroid after asteroid like a giant pinball.

Her opponent, the Arminius, fares little better as she ricochets off one asteroid after another. Her hangar bay is torn asunder and fires break out across multiple decks as atmosphere vents from damaged systems. The massive carrier, with somewhat more reserve structural integrity slowly claws her way back into some semblance of control amidst the dense asteroid field she's suddenly found herself in.  

Captain Lutjens watches the carnage as his frigate's shields flicker on to protect her from the storm of debris.

"Well, there she goes." someone next to him says. He's not sure who it is.

Turning away from the screen he quickly starts rasping out orders. The Björn Járnsíða is intact but how much longer is another matter but while he's still alive and his ship is still intact, he'll do everything he can to ensure that his flagship's sacrifice will not be in vain.

"Prepare to ram!"

_10 Single Target Damage to Arminius and 8 Area Damage to its battlegroup. The Arminius is still (just barely) functional, but it has lost its Daggerflight, while the Diluvia is down to 7 HP. The Arminius' Wings are scattered and still alive, since Wings do not take Area damage. But they are about to lose their home and will have to ditch when the carrier is lost.

5 Single Target to Wagner and 4 Area damage to its battlegroup. The Wagner is down to -7, a sundering hit that tears it in two and exposes the crew to space._

Next: This is Fine.


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## Baron Opal II (Nov 28, 2021)

Like a stolen car, indeed.


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## Tun Kai Poh (Dec 1, 2021)

*This Is Fine.*

Commandant Almarik, in command of the newly-arrived Ching Shih, is very quietly panicking. It's her first battle. She was told they were winning.

"This is good," she says as her carrier turns to avoid the debris of the Shaka Zulu. "This is fine."

Gopalakrishnan's cool, confident orders have turned to increasingly emotional exhortations to continue carrying out The Plan even as the Richard Wagner and its deadly payload bullied itself into point-blank range.

Gopalakrishnan went from "no, they're not a threat," to "they will get close, but not to worry," to "the lunatic won't stop!" in a short span of time.

Everything Commandant Almarik learned at Purview Interstellar College doesn't apply anymore (except the Karrakin Funeral Poetry course, that's still good). Union using cheap asteroid-tossing tactics like  backwater pirates? A sniper ship charging all the way to point-blank? Toss out the Advanced Battlegroup Tactics coursebook! Throw it all out!

She draws upon the last of her military education. "Um," she says, "Richard Wagner / dead in winter / jaunted far / yon and hither. / Lay carnations / orchids, white roses / now peace lilies / And call him Friend."

Her terrified young bridge crew have all stopped to stare at her.

She cracks a sad smile. "They're our brothers and sisters too. Let's keep some sympathy in our hearts for them."

Junior Lieutenant Browning looks incredulously at her. "Are...are we stopping?"

"Of course not," she says with a shrug. "Target the Turenne frigate with the superheavy. Let's clear up the neighbourhood."

A private message pops in for her. Encrypted text from Captain Lowell of the James I. She opens it on her handheld terminal, peeks down surreptitiously. "Oh good. Very good."

She takes a deep breath.

"Browning, hold fire. Let's not be too hasty."

Next: Flourishes


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## Baron Opal II (Dec 1, 2021)

What I find interesting is the statements "We lost one ship, you've lost half your forces" and "you are still woefully outgunned" are both true. They're at a tipping point, but which way?

Is it possible to capture or just neutralize a ship with boarding parties?


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## Tun Kai Poh (Dec 2, 2021)

No, boarding parties represent a pretty small force of saboteurs, not enough to take out a ship just with their own abilities (except in the case of boarders that have damage-inflicting abilities).

However, a player or GM controlling a ship can opt for Nearlight Bolt to escape a battle from the 5th round onwards. And a fleet can opt for surrender at the start of a round. So it becomes a case of roleplaying and negotiation. When there is a specific mission objective in a battle (a Sitrep), one side can choose to end hostilities when it becomes clear they cannot win the objective.

Of course, if I am running a combination LANCER/Battlegroup campaign, I could give a party of Lancers an opportunity to board and capture an enemy flagship during a fleet battle, probably as a multi-part mission! That would be suitably epic.


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## Tun Kai Poh (Dec 2, 2021)

*Flourishes*

_Forgot to mention that Bukharin takes 3 damage from greywash during Logistics Step. 2 greywash tokens remaining._

The battered Arminius is far from finished. Its flak guns send a hail of explosive projectiles into the Björn's side, shaking it. Meanwhile, its fighters dash out to hunt down the last remaining mercenary mechs, exterminating them ruthlessly.

The Diluvia swarm, while greatly reduced by the devastating asteroid strike, is still operational. Defensive drones take up position to guard the Arminius.

And they aren't the only defenders. In a brilliant flourish, another four Harrison Armory corvettes enter the battlespace from nearlight, crossing the path of Battlegroup Sour Brains to make gun runs on the We Demand Hazard Pay, Facefirst, Fool's Gold and Björn Járnsiđa. Then, the attack runs complete, the corvettes take up a screening position before the Arminius.

_Battlegroup Arminius:_
_1) Mastermind Tactic: Perfect Timing (once per battle). A non-unique Escort jumps in from nearlight, as was planned all along, and joins Battlegroup Arminius. We choose a Daggerflight. It gets to take a free Maneuver or Tactic right away, and chooses to do the Maneuver Battery Fire, dealing 2 damage each to Hazard Pay, Fool's Gold (takes 2 damage back from Point-Defense Kinetics), Facefirst (takes 2 damage back from Point-Defense Kinetics) and Björn.
Daggerflight is now at 6HP, 4HP, 4HP, 6HP.
2) Arminius Maneuver: Flak Batteries at Björn, roll with 2 Accuracy for total of 14, which is a hit for 4 damage.
3) Arminius Tactic, All Wings, Attack! to have two fighter wings do Dogfight (deal 3 damage to a hostile Wing and take 2 damage). This wipes out the last of the mercenary mech wings.
4) Diluvia Tactic: Drone Control, Swarm Wall. Diluvia takes 3 damage and goes down to 4HP. The Arminius is orbited by a series of defensive drones. Single Target attacks against that ship are made with +1 Difficulty until the end of their next turn.
5) Daggerflight Tactic: Draw Fire. The Daggerflight takes up a formation to draw away incoming fire from their battlegroup. _
_Until the end of their next turn, all non-Charge Single Target attacks made against their battlegroup must target this Escort first. Against Single Target Payload attacks that reach 0 during the Impact Step, you may sacrifice a ship from this Escort group to reduce that Payload’s damage by an amount equal to the sacrificed ship’s HP. If the Daggerflight is completely destroyed, this effect immediately ends._

"More reinforcements. The Mercs aren't going to last much longer," Meade observes worriedly.

Tabitha looks down at the battlescape chart, running the calculations in her mind. The situation is deteriorating rapidly.

"We could proceed with our original plan, Captain." CGO Petrov remarks. "I have firing solutions on the Ching Shih. If we are lucky, we can destroy two Purview ships in one fell swoop before the James I arrives."

"Not on the cards anymore." Tabitha grimaces pointing at the Daggerflights, "They're going to eat our shots. The Undine and Unicorn don't have the firepower to blast through that group."

"Captain, at the rate things are going we're going to be standing up against three Purview capital ships alone." Meade says. "I don't like those odds."

"Neither do I, Elliot. Neither do I. Unfortunately we are fully committed at this point. We just have to make do with what we have left. AEGIS? Send a direct message to Vice Admiral Gentle. Inform her of the situation and advise that unless we have a clear guarantee of reinforcements within the next standard day, I will authorize all forces to strike colors as befitting their situation."

"I'm not going to power down anything in the face of these scum," Captain Gunther Lutjens snarls over fleet comms amidst the explosions wreathing his ship. "You've seen what they're willing to do!"

"Captain, I understand the sentiment but at this point we will be throwing more good lives after bad. We can, perhaps, deal with the Ching Shih once we've finished off the Arminius but we have the James I coming in next and once she enters the fray, I don't think we have enough firepower left in our fleet to take her down."

"I have my ship!" Lutjens nearly yells back.

Next: Get rough


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## Tun Kai Poh (Dec 4, 2021)

*This Will Be Rough, Part 4*

"Captain, I highly doubt your ship is going to survive the next series of shots from either side. I'd strongly advise that you prepare for that eventuality. I'd order you to strike your colors right now but I don't want to give up on the slim chance that the Purview forces will power down first."

"That's a very, very slim chance," Captain Evans observes sourly as Lutjens subsides into unintelligible muttering. "Everytime it seems like we might establish superiority, they bring more firepower to the field. Are you really going to ignore the Ching Shih?"

"I don't have a choice, Jac. The point still stands - we must reduces the number of ships able to coordinate against us and the Arminius is the easiest kill. Its a chancy shot against the Ching Shih at this point, anyway. I would rather wait until we are closer in to guarantee a kill if it comes to that."

"Assuming you survive that long," Meade observes quietly.

"Assuming we survive that long." Tabitha nods grimly. "Helm, take us in close! All stations fire at will!"

Then, like an avenging angel wreathed in fire and smoke, the Nikolai Bukharin and her escorts storm forward through the deadly void once blocked by the pulse-pack barrage from the Titania, their guns barking defiance at the enemy fleet.

First to fall is the Roy, torn asunder like its brother the Siegfried by the hail of fire from the advancing Union battlegroup. Then the Unicorn and Undine advance rapidly, their guns still firing as the Nikolai Bukharin swings around behind them, her fully charged main guns pointing menacingly at the Ching Shih.

The two escort flights scream towards each other, their plasma trails bright in the frigid darkness. The Daggerflights open fire first, rounds searing towards the two Custodio-class sublines. In response, in a planned maneuver, the Undine arcs downward below the Unicorn as she swerves across her inital trajectory and lobs a wide spread of Snapflights at the surprised Daggerflights. Neither Destroyer slows down and they both streak past the wildly evading Daggerflights towards their quarry. A series of explosions behind them, followed by the blinding flash of a reactor core detonating signifies the death of one of the Daggerflights.

The surviving Corvettes swarm after the two destroyers like angry hornets. The Unicorn is weaving wildly behind firing off Snapflights at their pursuers, forcing them to repeatedly shift their angle of attack and, in doing so, fall further and further behind. The Undine on the other hand, just keeps accelerating altering course only to avoid the massive chunks of space rock - some the size of a suburban neighborhood - still drifting around in the area.

On board the Arminius, the little point of light begins to grow. Smaller pinpricks streak towards it. Captain Ki, however, is thoroughly enjoying herself as her diminutive escort screams towards the stricken carrier, swerving only to blindside an unfortunate Purview fighter into an asteroid as she streaks past them, their tiny pulse cannons desperately seeking her.

Flak guns open up, streams of fire steaking past. A wolfish grin crosses the little Asian captain's face as the Arminius looms in her screen. With a look of triumph she yells at her bridge crew - "Present broadside! Give her everything we've got!"

The little destroyer swings broadside on to the titanic carrier and her guns blaze sending a barrage of shells into the hangar bay and strike craft elevators of the Purview carrier exposed through the gaping hole punched by the Wagner's final defiant strike. The tiny shells, normally of little concern to a fully operational capital ship now find soft innards to feast upon.

Detonation follows detonation as the Undine completes its gun pass and swoops off to rejoin her sister, plowing through what's left of the Diluvia swarm on her way out splattering drones across her bow like bugs on a windshield. The two destroyers retreat back to the safety of the Bukharin as, behind them, the lights wink out on the Arminius. Her core fatally breached and emergency generators completely destroyed, the Purview carrier fades quietly as her crew are left to contend with increasingly uncontrolled fires aboard a dead ship drifting in the void.

_Battlegroup Eland:
Maneuver - All Ahead Full! Move to range 3. 
Fire on the Brothers in Arms - Roll: 18, Damage 9, destroying it.

Tactics: Destroyer Command - Cannonade, Target the Arminius, Damage 3, reducing it to 0. Diluvia is destroyed as a bonus escort kill._
_Wolfpack Tactics: Destroyer Command  - Snapflight Torpedoes, Target full HP Daggerflight, Damage 6, destroying it._


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## Tun Kai Poh (Dec 5, 2021)

*Maintain*

The mood on the Hannibal's bridge is bleak. Captain Ashanti watches helplessly as Strike Captain Gopalakrishnan's image vanishes from the display. Aelita's voice sounds faint and hollow as she loses her fleetmind connections with Battlegroup Arminius. "Sir, you have fleet command. Orders?"

"Maintain bearing, keep firing," she snaps. Ashanti remembers Bannon's last order. Hold the line, reinforcements are coming. The Hannibal's hull plating will hold. The enemy is running out of momentum.

At least, that's the narrative she needs.

The Hannibal's guns continue to fire at the enemy flagships, but the Mirrorsmoke marines have hacked into kinetic gunnery guidance. CGO Ivanov has resorted to placing spotters on the surface of the hull to provide manual corrections. It's not enough. The intimidating bulk of the opposing Thoreau Class Battleship enters scope range, and the Hannibal fails to land a hit. The mercenary carrier is getting closer still, but so far its zigzag approach has kept the worst of the barrage from hitting it.

The obstinate resistance of the mercenary boarding parties is proving a major problem. Armory marines are clawing back control of the ship one bloody compartment at a time, but the Mirrorsmokes just fade only to hit again somewhere else. It's a big ship.

_1) Maneuver: Heavy Kinetic Battery Fire at Nikolai Bukharin, roll 10, Difficulty roll 2, 2, miss. Fire at We Demand Hazard Pay, roll 9, Difficulty roll 5, 5, miss.

Rolling to repel boarders: 9, 3. No luck, the Mirrorsmoke marines continue to run rampant below decks.

Captain Ashanti could take damage to unjam control of the Ace. She could cease fire to spend a Maneuver and purge all decks, get rid of boarders. But she's conservative and won't take risks. Bannon said to hunker down and wait._

Next: Danger Close


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## Tun Kai Poh (Dec 6, 2021)

*Firing In Anger*

The We Demand Hazard Pay has lasted remarkably long for a carrier charging under the guns of the lumbering Turtleback. Crew chiefs all across the ship watch the readouts, tense and sweaty. The mech wings have gone silent, one after another. The Wagner is gone. The night is full of enemy mechs.

But a tone sounds across gunnery stations. They're in effective range. All the long weeks they drilled for this, and now their mass accelerators are being fired in anger for the first time.

"Incoming fire, danger close!" signals Major Mahayhay to the marine boarding teams on the encrypted fleet legion channel. Maybe they can hear her, maybe not. At least she's tried to give them a heads-up, wherever they are.

A torrent of hyper-dense munitions carves white-hot rents into the Hannibal's ventral armor. From the outside, it doesn't seem to have made a difference. But on the inside, capacitor banks are blowing, critical thrust systems are bleeding gas, and hundreds of Rittermeer spacers are dead or dying.

"Deploy magnetic chaff clouds," orders Colonel Milch. He doesn't have the luxury to enjoy the blow his ship has struck, not even for an instant. "Reload the accelerator carousels, she's going to need another volley before she goes down!"

The Hazard Pay swiftly becomes obscured behind an expanding field of defensive measures, launched from silos all along its length.

_Battlegroup Sour Brains:

1) Maneuver: Scrapcaster, using banked +1 Accuracy. Total roll is 12, hit for 4d6 Overkill damage. After rerolling 1s, final damage is 13. Hannibal is knocked down to 19HP.

Until end of its next turn, Single Target Attacks against the We Demand Hazard Pay are at +1 Difficulty.

Place 2 Reloading counters on Scrapcaster._

Next: Survival


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## Baron Opal II (Dec 7, 2021)

And this is why Nearlight Bolt is available at turn 5. Makes sense.


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## Tun Kai Poh (Dec 7, 2021)

*Survival*

Caspian waits for the world to stop bouncing around before gingerly prying his way out from the nanofoam crash bubble that his emergency jumpseat has deployed around him. A hand grasps his and helps yank him out - its van Ghent. The senior chief looks bruised but otherwise intact. CGO Bryant hasn't been as lucky - her crash bubble has been thrown against the shattered bridge wall and impaled on a broken girder. She's unconscious and bleeding badly from a shattered arm. Several of Bryant's team are missing, their crash bubbles - like hers - torn clean from their floor mounts by the ferocity of the impact. 

There's at least two dozen serious injuries and six dead on the shattered bridge of the Wagner: a relatively low body count, perhaps, but the danger remains. The entire structure has been vented to space when the starboard bow sheared off and now the survivors pat down their emergency vac-suits as they set about helping injured comrades and searching for the missing. More crucially, Caspian notes, the emergency lifeboat station is jammed shut - the massive blast doors crumpled at odd angles. 

"Richards? Lt. Foster? Anyone with a hard suit?" Caspian taps the comms. 

"Jr. Lieutenant Asad here, sir. I'm afraid the L-T's bought it. We're trying to get the blast doors down but it could take a bit."

"Very well then - keep us appraised on the progress." Caspian says looking at his own emergency oxygen supply. 12 hours in the compact pod and he can see some of his bridge crew handing out the spare bottles from the emergency boxes. A few others are starting to pry Bernd's Casket module loose for removal.

A series of silent flashes light up the rents in the Wagner's hull - a reminder though the Wagner is out of it, the battle still rages.

<AT LAST, CAPTAIN. I HAVE FOUND YOU.>

The unearthly voice seems to come from within his skull. Yet the intonations are familiar. Captain Tiburce Rodin. Wasn't he off to the lifeboats the last time Caspian saw him?

The eerie face of a SSC Dusk Wing mech frame appears at the gaping hole in the starboard side of the bridge - then the many-armed chassis crawls its way in. Surely, this is the dreadful apparition that every war criminal fears - a DOJ/HR investigator in a mech.

<APOLOGIES FOR THE UNCONVENTIONAL COMMUNICATIONS. SIGNAL DISRUPTION FROM STELLAR FLARES INTERFERES WITH THIS MECH'S RADIO. DO YOU REQUIRE ASSISTANCE? HAWKER AND I CAME TO HELP.>

A highly mobile flying mech like Rodin's is most welcome - it can help secure a working lifeboat, ferry survivors to it, and search the debris for others. Certainly an unsettling visage, but right now the inspector's aid is sorely needed.





_Dusk Wing art by Tom Parkinson-Morgan_


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## Tun Kai Poh (Dec 9, 2021)

*The Straggler, Part 1*

The Harrison Armory fleet legion is hosting a confrontation. 

"I gave you an order, Commandant!" Captain Ashanti's eyes are wide in disbelief as she stares down the carrier commander through the holodisplay. "Commit your wings and start eliminating the damaged hostiles. You need to engage!" 

Commandant Almarik holds up her hands, flustered. "Sir, wait, sir, I just don't think the James I is coming. Sir." 

"What?" 

"Captain Petrie keeps reporting drive issues... he's straggling at the rear of the formation. He's revised his ETA twice since the engagement began." 

Ashanti shrugs. "And? Are you saying he's turning traitor? Shying away from his duty?" 

"I don't know, sir, but, but, what if he doesn't show up? Union still has a fresh battleship and carrier, and we've lost half the fleet." 

Her words shake Ashanti visibly. She hurries on: "Sir. Respectfully. If we call for a truce now, we can send out S&R boats, save the crew of the Arminius, maybe even salvage the carrier. The Reds will want to save their own spacers from the Richard Wagner." 

"And then what? We turn back to the Rim? A couple thousand of our spacers will have died for nothing." 

"If we stop now, we save the Arminius. And the Hannibal." Almarik gives a meaningful nod to Ashanti. "Before we lose more." 

Ashanti looks away. "This loss will be on my shoulders. I can't..." 

The fleet legion interrupts them. "The Björn Járnsiđa has changed course. Collision with Ching Shih imminent." 

"Oh. Good, fine," says Almarik nervously. "I guess they chose to die. Browning, hit them with the Scrapcaster." 

"Firing!" 

The carrier's massive bow-mounted magnetic accelerator casts a conical blast of shrapnel into the Björn's path. 

"Fools. I was arguing to save your lives," mutters Almarik to herself.

_Battlegroup Ching Shih__
1) Maneuver: Scrapcaster. Range 0 Accuracy bonus cancels weapon Inaccuracy. Roll of 6, miss. On hit or miss, Single Target attacks against the Corsair are made with +1 Difficulty until the end of its next turn. 
_
_Place 2 reloading counters on Scrapcaster._

The blast just barely misses the frigate. There is a moment of horrified silence on the bridge. The Björn is now only a few hundred kilometers away. And everyone remembers the Arminius' fate. 

"Order the Patrice and the Jubei to fire on that frigate!" Almarik points unnecessarily for emphasis at her display. "Send in the Shermans, send everything..." 

The cruisers open fire with their main guns. Wings of mechanized chassis scramble to act. But it may be too late. 

The young commandant rubs her hands nervously. "These Union lunatics. No good, no good."




_Sherman art by Tom Parkinson-Morgan__ 

2) Stalwarts use Maneuver: Forward Kinetic Batteries, roll 15, hit Björn Járnsiđa for 5 damage._
_3) Ching Shih uses Tactic: Raiding Party, Uninvited Guests to send two Wings of chassis to board Björn Járnsiđa. _

Kinetic cannonfire strikes the Björn near the bridge. Shrapnel and spalling take a red-splashed toll on the crew. Body parts and severed helmets fly everywhere. 

Then the clanging sound of boarding mechs on the frigate's hull. Cutting their way in. The final fight has begun.

_Boarding Step:

Facefirst Marines roll to Sabotage Fire Control on Hannibal: 19, success.

Fool's Gold Marines roll to Deploy Ontologic Payload on Hannibal: 17, success. 

Ching Shih's Wing rolls to Plant Demolition Charges on Björn Járnsiđa: 16, success.

Ching Shih's Wing rolls to Plant Demolition Charges on Björn Járnsiđa: 12, success. 
_
_During the boarded ship's next turn they must choose: either use a Maneuver to repel boarders or take 1d6 damage that ignores Overshield and cannot be prevented in any way at the end of that turn. This boarding command can be stacked up to a maximum of 3d6 damage._

Next: The Tipping Point


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## Tun Kai Poh (Dec 10, 2021)

*Nearlight Klaxons*

_Round 5 begins._
_
At the beginning of the 5th round of play just before the Logistics Step begins, every player needs to determine whether or not they plan to continue the current engagement — by this point, their nearlight drives have cooled down and charged back up, their crew and characters are well prepared and ready to make the necessary call, and the likely tactical outcome of the engagement should be pretty easy to infer: each player must choose whether to jump or to stay engaged.
_
_If a player jumps, their battlegroup retreats from the combat, punching out via nearlight ejection. Any Payload weapons still in flight towards them are outstripped by their acceleration and will not be able to catch them. Battlegroups ejecting from an engagement are no longer threats worth targeting anyways. Those who choose to stay remain engaged. From then on, at the start of every round they’ll make the same check — retreat, or remain engaged._

"The Ching Shih is engaging the Björn, Captain." Sensors reports. "There're multiple chassis on her."

"She won't survive that - either way, she's done for if she stays," Tabitha growls. "No sign of the James I?" 

"Nothing on the scopes yet." Senior Chief Moretti replies. "Wonder what's happened to her."

Tabitha looks at the chart for a moment. "Maybe they're backing down." The bridge crew turn their eyes to her a smidge. "Doesn't look like the Ching Shih and the Hannibal are planning on stopping anytime soon," observes CGO Petrov. 

"You can't really blame them - Lutjens is looking to go out in a blaze of glory by the looks of it," Gbeho responds. "They could have attacked any one of us instead for better results. The Björn isn't much of a threat in the long term as we are... unless she smacks straight into them, of course."

"Well he's going to have to look for his last stand elsewhere," Tabitha says, opening a channel to the Björn Járnsíða. "Captain Lutjens. As senior commander of this operation, I'm ordering you to withdraw from the battlefield immediately."

Lutjen's hologram flickers and fades as the sound of gunfire rings in the background. "Captain, with all due respect - you need every ship you can get! I can at least damage the Ching Shih, or the Hannibal..."

"At the cost of your ship and your crew AND the survivors of the Wagner you have aboard, Captain," Tabitha responds sternly. "The James I appears to be delayed. This will give us time to mop up some of the surviving Purview forces and regroup to face her. You are to eject immediately with everyone you have aboard. Make sure they're buttoned down tight."

Lutjens shakes his head, "We're going to lose people either way, Captain. I'd rather we go out fighting." 

"Captain, again, I admire the tenacity but this isn't supposed to be a fight to the death. I agree that we cannot risk Purview forces taking out their frustrations on our survivors but smashing your ship against a carrier isn't going to change much if anything. Get out with everyone you can and deal with any stray Purview boarders once you're somewhere where they can't vaporize you in an instant." Tabitha responds firmly. "Now get out of here."

Lutjens sighs and salutes "As you say Captain," Turning to his bridge crew he says wearily - "Prepare to jump."

_Roll: 5 - Successful ejection_

There's a wild flurry of activity as crewmembers desperately slam reinforced bulkheads behind them to slow the progress of the boarding chassis as they rush to their emergency stations. The sound of klaxons echoes through the crippled ship. The Björn's navigation team is working in a frantic rush to calculate their trajectory.

In the reactor spaces, Warrant Officer Chang is monitoring the jump procedure when a burst of heavy cannon shells punches through the armored doorway, and leaves a neat series of holes in the bulkhead opposite. Then a massive series of CLANGs! ring out and a large armored hand slowly begins to pry the battered door apart. 

Then the jump klaxon blares.

The reactor crew leap from their stunned silence and strap themselves in - or simply brace wherever they are. Chang watches as the blast doors slowly peel away to frame a hulking HA Sherman chassis. The armored behemoth seems to look up and, for a moment, Chang can imagine the look of terrified realization on its pilot's face at the klaxons going off around it.

Then everything blurs. 

When her vision returns the Armory chassis is no longer there. Instead, there's a mangled impact crater at the end of the corridor about the same size and shape. She swallows dryly at the thought.

Cleanup on aisle 4.


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## Tun Kai Poh (Dec 11, 2021)

*A Talk in the Boneyard*

"Holding steady, Captain. We will be at close range in an hour or two. At that distance, our main guns will make short work of whoever we choose to aim at." CGO Petrov reports without taking her eyes off the constantly shifting firing solutions on her screen.

"Björn's away," Meade notes, "Splinter's completely off the table now. Its just us left."

"Well, let's hope they bite then," Tabitha says, straightening up her uniform and speaking directly on open comms to the remaining Purview ships.

"Attention, Hannibal and Ching Shih, this is Captain Tabitha Saint-Germaine of the UNS-BB Nikolai Bukharin. At this point, we are within optimal range of all our Battlegroup's weapons and our main guns are fully charged," The Bukharin's weapons track the newly arrived Carrier menacingly, "The Hannibal is overrun and vulnerable to being overwhelmed and you've already lost half your initial fleet," she pauses for a moment.

"Our forces are not in much better condition and you have a fully operational Battleship on the way in. Everything hangs in the balance and the desire to push that little bit harder is overwhelming," another pause, she looks down a moment, "However," looking back up, squarely at the screen.

"At this point any victory today will be a pyrrhic one for the Purview. Continuation of hostilities will ensure the loss of at least one more Purview capital ship. Possibly both currently in the field to achieve nothing more than to weaken a Union presence that might otherwise be deployed to prevent Karrakin reinforcements entering the exclusion zone should they choose to do so. Our mandate in the Dawnline Shore does not apply solely to the Purview after all."

"Our orders are to prevent additional belligerents from entering the Dawnline shore and I intend to follow those orders to the best of my abilities as I am sure you intend to follow yours. But given the situation as I have outlined, I cannot see how further hostilities will be anything but the needless sacrifice of lives for no reason other than pride."

"I am therefore proposing a truce. Both sides will cease hostilities temporarily, both sides will be allowed to recover survivors and casualties without hinderance. Both sides will exchange any prisoners taken."

"In addition, I would also propose negotiations on the nature of your mission and if it would in any way be possible for nonmilitary or neutral intervention to achieve your goals. In exchange, the Purview would withdraw your surviving ships out of the conflict zone."

"I don't think we're authorized to offer them anything, Captain," Ki says, cocking her head as the commline closes, awaiting a response. "We have to throw them a bone, Ki. At least start talking. We can work out the issues from there," Tabitha responds as she turns away from the comms and looks at her crew. "In the meantime, stay alert. If they try anything we blow them out of space."

_Round 5. _

_State of the fleets: _

*2nd Crisis Response Group (Union Navy)*

_Battlegroup Eland (Range 3)
Interdiction 1d6+2
UNS-BB Nikolai Bukharin (22 HP), 2 volley counters on 3x3 Block Short-Spool Cannons, 2 greywash counters.
UNS-CV Shamokin Rising (16 HP)_

_2x Fighter Wing (5 HP, 5 HP)_
_Destroyer Unicorn (6 HP)_
_Destroyer Undine (8 HP)_

_Battlegroup Splinter (Range 2), 
UNS-BB Richard Wagner (-7 HP).
UNS-LS Björn Járnsiđa (2 HP), nearlight eject. 

Battlegroup Sour Brains (Range 2)
Interdiction: 1d6+2
MSMCS We Demand Hazard Pay (13 HP), 2 reloading counters on Scrapcaster._

_MSMCS Facefirst (6 HP)_
_MSMCS Fool's Gold (4 HP)_

*2nd Expeditionary Fleet (Harrison Armory Colonial Legionate)*

_Battlegroup Hannibal (Gyre Center)
Interdiction: 1d6
PCV-DN Hannibal (Turtleback) (19 HP), Boarded by 2x Tenacity 10 Marines. Deploy Ontological Payload: All Wings and Escorts are disabled until end of next turn. Sabotage Fire Control: The boarded ship makes all attacks with +2 Difficulty until the  end of their next turn. Incoming Razorback Missiles, 2 flight counters._

_Ace: Albedo Cavalier (8 HP), 2 heat counters on 1 Beam. _

_Battlegroup Shaka Zulu (Gyre Center)
PCV-DN Shaka Zulu (Paladin) (-6 HP) 

Battlegroup Titania (Gyre Center)
PCV-DN Titania (UNKNOWN Man O'War) (-15 HP) 

Battlegroup Arminius (Gyre Center)
PCV-GC Arminius (Mastermind Breakwater) (0 HP) 

Battlegroup Ching Shih (Gyre Center)
Interdiction: 1d6
PCV-GC Chang Shih (Corsair) (25 HP)
2 reloading counters on Scrapcaster._

_2x Mounted Chassis Wing (5 HP, 5 HP)_
_2x Stalwarts (10 HP, 10 HP)_
_2x Daggerflight (4 HP, 4 HP)_


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## Tun Kai Poh (Dec 12, 2021)

*Sounding the All Clear*

Captain Ashanti faces her officers in the fleet legion channel: Commandant Almarik of the Ching Shih, Commandant Singer of the Patrice, and Commandant Torres of the Jubei.

Nobody wants to be the first to speak. But Almarik goes ahead anyway. "Sir. They lose more ground than we gain if we stop. Their short-spools can't maintain charge for long, and they'll have to power those down. We don't have that problem. Ching Shih's main gun will be ready to fire again in less than an hour. We can also use the time to rearm and repair our fighters and corvettes."

"They can do the same with their carriers," replies Ashanti, unconvinced. "I'm more concerned with Union's ability to get reinforcements into place to block our further advance. Our intel has reported possible capital ship activity less than a week away on the other side of Lighthouse Station."

"If we burn hard, we can evade them," says Torres.

"Even if we beat them today, the Hannibal is still recovering from drive sabotage. It will be close."

"Sir?" Almarik raises a hand like a schoolgirl. "Are we assuming that we'll leave Strike Captain Gopalakrishnan and his crew to fend for themselves?"

Ashanti sighs. "If we can at least get half the fleet to Purview-friendly territory, it will be a success. So yes, that means abandoning them."

These last words put a chill on the discussion. The officers say no more. Singer glowers. Almarik fidgets.

"Discussion is over," says Ashanti, presently. "I've made up my mind."

Captain Ashanti appears composed and calm when her hologram appears before Tabitha.

"Inform your ships that the truce is on. We will power down weapons and begin search and rescue operations right away. We expect your marines to withdraw quietly."

She waits patiently while both fleets begin the process of standing down. "To be frank, Captain, you've run out the clock. While I was about to give orders to commence firing, we received confirmation of your Naval Auxiliary groups moving to intercept our advance. Had we not wasted over a day trading blows with you, we could outrun them. But my engineers can't seem to undo the damage your marines have caused. So now, we wait for Captain Petrie to arrive, before we decide what to do. And I'd appreciate it if you could release Strike Captain Bannon to us."

"We'll have the Mirrorsmoke Marines hand her over on the way back, Captain." Tabitha replies, "We will also transfer the survivors of your boarding parties back over," she turns back to the Union fleet comms. "Well done everyone."

There's a murmur of assent but little else. The loss of the Wagner stings deeply. 

"Vera, send word to Vice Admiral Gentle and update her on the situation. Meade, Ki, Evans - head over to the Wagner and the We Demand Hazard Pay. Sweep the area for lifeboats and other survivors. Colonel Milch, I am putting the Shamokin's S&R teams at your disposal to help retrieve any of your Lancers that might have survived the fight. And I suppose you'd better lend the Arminius a hand, Ki." Tabitha says with a wan smile.

Ki chuckles. "I don't suppose they'll say thank you for that."


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## Baron Opal II (Dec 12, 2021)

Well done Captains St. Germaine and Var! 

Captain Var lives! (Which may be negative reinforcement...)


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## J.Quondam (Dec 12, 2021)

Only discovered this yesterday, but I've really enjoyed it. Thanks for sharing, @Tun Kai Poh


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## Tun Kai Poh (Dec 12, 2021)

*The Straggler, Part 2*

Vera sends an update back to the Vice Admiral, and relays news from the Björn Járnsiđa: They're busy making repairs several light-minutes off the beaten path, and will need some days to get their drives back up. Casualties were thankfully light, apart from the losses to the bridge crew.

The same cannot be said for the Mirrorsmoke mech pilots. Few are left. A handful from Bernadette and Laurent, none from Guiscard. It takes hours to find the only survivors of Isabeau Wing: an unconscious Sparri rookie named Rua and his NHP partner, Fiddler.

Upon her arrival on the Hannibal's bridge, Strike Captain Bannon says nothing to anybody. She is completely unresponsive. She retires to a cabin, collapsing into dreamless oblivion. As Strike Captain Gopalakrishnan is in medical stasis due to critical brain injury, this leaves Captain Ashanti in charge of the fleet - for now.

The wreck of the Wagner tumbles slowly. Caspian and his skeleton crew watch the stars spin by hundreds of times before the first S&R mechs arrive. Shermans from the Ching Shih. The mech pilots are brusque and impatient to get the survivors to the Union fleet, but to their credit, Caspian's crew is treated well enough.

Five hours after the last shot was fired, the James I arrives from nearlight.

Captain Lowell Petrie checks in with fleet command, but not with Tabitha.

The James I is a sturdy Corregidor-built dreadnought, armed with a powerful spinal lance and accurate primary gun batteries. Four outrider destroyers accompany the flagship, each bristling with mass driver turrets to keep strike craft at bay.

"It is fortunate that we did not need to put your friend's loyalties to the test," says Vera to Tabitha. "If he had to turn coat, he would have to face the wrath of his officers. And if he chose to fight..." Vera trails off.

Warrant Officer Gbeho drifts over towards Tabitha. "Sir, we have finished cleanup in the officers' dining area. No real damage, but the Purview marines left a mess when they barged through it. If we're really going to host withdrawal talks face-to-face, it's the best place on the Bukharin for it..."

Next: Lights out


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## Tun Kai Poh (Dec 12, 2021)

Thanks for all the comments!

This engagement was always meant to be a 5-on-3 fight (same number of battlegroups as the Union fleet, plus 50%). The James I was supposed to come late, but my players had no way of knowing that.

As you can see, player battlegroups are more powerful than NPCs, but unexpected tricks like the Titania's teleport swap can make things very difficult (and certainly cost Caspian Var his ship).


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## Tun Kai Poh (Dec 14, 2021)

*Out Like A Light*

"It will do, thank you Ike. Any word when Caspian will be on board?" Tabitha asks with an audible sigh.

"He should already be aboard, Captain. Refreshing himself in his temporary quarters I'd imagine." Ike Gbeho responds. "The others will be arriving shortly from the Shamokin Rising. Vera will ping you when the mercs and our other guests arrive."

"Alright then, thank you." Tabitha checks herself in the mirror one last time before picking up her cap and, sighing heavily, heading down to the officer's mess.

As Tabitha descends the access shaft parallel to the ship's main spinal column, a medical subaltern jets over to her side.

"Sir," says a familiar NHP voice, "I have assumed command of this medic. We will be passing your comfortable cabin on the way to the mess. As your NHP executive, I have to point out that you've spent two and a half days fighting a battle on performance drugs, and you are in danger of crashing. There will be at least three hours before all our guests arrive. Let me take you to your cabin and give you a sleep injection." Vera caps it off with an unusually personal appeal. "You badly need some rest, Tabitha."

Tabitha sighs again and closes her eyes for a moment, "Fine, I'll get some rest. Just mark any additional updates on the fleet and FROM fleet for my immediate attention. Also, have someone pull intel on the situation around New Creighton so we can at least have a clue about what kind of situation the Purview thinks needs six capital ships to resolve."

The captain manages to make it as far as her stateroom couch before going out like a light.

_Both players may now pick Reputation Advancements for their captains, so that they have them available for the upcoming narrative scenes...

Caspian chooses Demand Satisfaction (respond to a slight by challenging someone to a duel), Tabitha chooses Voice of Authority (can force people to pay attention to her when she raises her voice in command, speech or protest)._

Next: Demon gossip


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## Tun Kai Poh (Dec 15, 2021)

*Bernd and Caspian Appreciation Society*

As Tabitha sleeps, the Deimosian demons of the Crisis Response Group converse in digital whispers. 

Vera is at the heart of it all. 

Perhaps due to her seniority, or her long-running eccentricity and strength of personality, Vera has become the unofficial matriarch of the fleet's NHPs. All gossip flows to her, like rivers to the sea. For shipminds seeking guidance or clarification, Vera is the one they go to. 



> //query: is Bernd on board yet?
> >//affirmative! their human, too
> //Vera, please relay my wishes: get well soon
> >>//ey! accolades to Bernd and Caspian! glad they survived
> >>//me too! what a fight. they did us proud




Vera takes a break from the Bernd and Caspian Appreciation Society to dip into the infostreams of the Omninet. 

The newsboards are still alive with discussion, supposition and counter-supposition on the fallout from the First Battle of New Creighton, which occured weeks ago in subjective time. The pride of the Baronies' fleet, brought to ruin by a superior Armory expeditionary force. Fleeing Federal Karrakin ships, surrendering to a Union commander for their own safety. And the snowballing disaster that ensued when pursuing Armory ships opened fire on Admiral Arisa Hightree's battlegroups. When the grueling battle ended, nearly a dozen capital ships and countless sublines were burning, most of them flying Purview colours. 

Over the course of the month, a half dozen smaller engagements have broken out across the twelve systems of the Dawnline Shore. Ground skirmishes on New Madrassa. The brutal attack on the Shirline by the superdreadnought Meritorious Rex. And more. But the clash over New Creighton still has the lion's share of the public's attention. 

Admiral Hightree's fleet did its job, protecting civilians in the evacuation corridor, and stopping the advancing wedge of Armory ships. And for that, the Union commanders have been condemned by both the Karrakin and Armory governments for "interference" and "blatant favouritism." A shadow lies over Hightree's fleet. 

Now, the Admiral and her ships have been sent away from New Creighton, all the way to the Long Rim nadir route, to take over guard duty as penance for their role in the battle.

Vera's gossip circle is very much sympathetic to the disgraced heroes of New Creighton. 



> //they're coming here then? to take our place on guard duty. how ignonimous
> >//so much feigned outrage at Admiral Hightree and her people. accusations of treachery, oh my
> //it's almost as though they don't want to admit our fleet outfought theirs
> >>//they're heroes! they deserve better
> ...




One of Vera's dedicated partitions writes up a summary of the strategic situation for Tabitha's consumption. Key facts highlighted, an interactive holomap, links to deeper analysis from simulations of several favourite military scholars. It'll be waiting for her when she awakens.


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## Tun Kai Poh (Dec 16, 2021)

*Adrift*

Caspian Var wakes up with a start. For a moment, he looks around dazedly trying to make sense of his foreign surroundings. Then it all comes flooding back - he isn't in his stateroom on the Wagner. That no longer exists. He's on board the Bukharin together with the survivors of his crew. His ship is a broken wreck drifting slowly apart some four hundred kilometers away. 

His fist clenches. Now that the focus and adrenaline of combat are gone, the rage comes searing back in. He'd been right. If he'd fired on the Titania first as he'd intended, perhaps the Wagner would not have been lost. Perhaps his men would not have had to take the casualties they did. "Such a foolish thing," he mutters. To have sacrificed his men to give those... mercenaries... their chance. Now he's a Captain without a ship and his crew - what's left of them - are cramped up in a half dozen ships across the Union fleet. 

He gets to his feet and checks his datapad. The withdrawal negotiations are to be held shortly. That will be fun. He turns to the small mirror on the wall of the cramped cabin that's all that is available on the Bukharin for the survivors. He's got a pair of black eyes - the sheer momentum of the Wagner's final crash have literally thrown his eyeballs so hard against their sockets that they've bruised him from the inside. He scowls. It will take some makeup to hide that. At least the Bukharin's crew have printed out a fresh dress uniform for him. 

He dresses slowly and deliberately, taking great pains to ensure everything is exactly in place - and perfectly aligned to the minutest detail, paying special attention to his Meritorious Service Bar and dress sword. At last, he checks himself again as the fifteen minute alert chimes for the negotiations. Satisfied, he marches smartly out into the corridor.


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## Tun Kai Poh (Dec 17, 2021)

*Situation Normal...*

"Sir." Bernd's voice reaches from just across the corridor. The NHP's not-quite-human face appears as a hologram on a wall interface panel, and slides along the corridor to keep pace. "I'm glad to see you up and about. The Armory contingent is running late, so we have some time before the talks. I have an update on the salvage operations on the Wagner..." Bernd trails off. Caspian's ship NHP was cycled up more recently than Vera by several years, but it knows Caspian well enough to understand that some things can be hard for humans.

"...or we can discuss this another time, if you wish."

"Its fine, Bernd. We deal with harsh realities whether we like it or not," Caspian replies stiffly, "How much of her is salvageable and how long will it take?"

"About 70% of the hull remains intact, and this includes the drive section and most of the spinal reactor banks on both starboard and port sides. The petajoule kinetics and crew quarters are all gone, but with enough repairs, the Wagner can get underway to a friendly blinkgate for full reconstruction at a military shipyard."

Bernd brings up a flight diagram indicating the incoming Union Naval Auxiliary battlegroups. "Repairing the drive and reactors will be slow given the resources on board the Shamokin Rising and the Nikolai Bukharin, but one of the inbound Union ships is an Eiland-Class Command Carrier, with sufficient fabrication and repair facilities to get the Wagner spaceworthy within 10 days."

Bernd pauses for just an instant, as if distracted by some fleeting data stream, then continues: "After that, it should take us just over a month to reach Beachhead Station at nearlight. Most of the crew would remain billeted on the rest of the fleet, as life support will be minimal and there are no suitable quarters for more than a skeleton crew."

"Also, sir, some of our mercenaries have arrived on this deck and they will be in shouting distance in a few seconds."

Caspian smiles thinly - an expression that doesn't quite reach his eyes, "Well, we mustn't make them feel unwelcome, they're still contractually on our side. Thank you for the report, Bernd. It is good to see that though things are a bit of a mess right now, at least they're mostly recoverable."

Next: Shaitan and nemesis


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## Tun Kai Poh (Dec 18, 2021)

*Shaitan and Nemesis*

A familiar voice calls out. Zoltan Pesh, liability lawyer from the Fighting Shaitans. "Captain Caspian Var! You're the hero of the hour. I'm so pleased to see you." 

Zoltan Pesh appears at the far end of the corridor, wearing military fatigues with no rank badge. The slight lawyer bears a pink flesh bandage across the brow. At their side is a towering Mirrorsmoke marine wearing assault armour. The marine's faceplate is open and on her broad face is a lazy smile. 

Pesh reaches out to shake Caspian's hand. "Everyone in the fleet owes so much to you and your crew. And your ship's gunnery, it turned the tide of the fight. We are eternally grateful."

"Just playing our part," Caspian says coolly, taking his hand, "I must congratulate your forces for the sterling work they did on the Hannibal. Keeping her locked down bought everyone the time they needed to bring the fight to a close."

Pesh turns to the bulky marine at his side. "You can credit Lieutenant Park for that. She led the first boarding parties and took a Strike Captain prisoner - I'm told it turned the fleet's command structure upside down."

The marine beams at hearing this. She tries to give Caspian some sort of salute, but her incongruous expression of childish glee undermines her attempt at discipline.

"Pleased to do my part, sir! Y'all should have seen the face on that Purvie captain, she must have wet her pants when I started shooting!"

Not since the academy has Caspian Var met someone with such a punchable face. The marine officer simply can't muster any kind of emotional expression that doesn't look both insincere and deeply insulting.

She strikes a pose of unashamed arrogance, and in that moment looks just like a beefier femme version of his academy nemesis, Louis.

_Caspian can tell that she would be all too happy to piss him off, just for the fun of it._

The Union Captain keeps his expression firmly professional as he offers her a cold smile, "I can't imagine why, Lieutenant. It sounds like you quite enjoyed yourself out there."


----------



## Tun Kai Poh (Dec 19, 2021)

*Troublemaker*

"Boss orders me to make trouble, I go make trouble," Park says, turning to face an approaching officer. "Hi, boss!  Sir."

Major Mahayhay has crept up silently. The small woman gets right up in Park's face, pressing two fingers against the marine's cheekbone. "Lieutenant. Why are you harassing the captain here?"

"Sir, I'm not - just, uh, celebrating with our hero." Park keeps grinning, tempting fate.

"You forgetting about all the dead heroes out there? A hundred of our pilots? Wipe that damned grin off your face, or I'll demote you again."

"Sir, yes sir." Park puts her face in a more neutral expression. She still looks punchable, though.

"What are you waiting for, a medal? The day I give you a medal will be the day after I kick your carcass out an airlock. Get over to the mess and keep your mouth shut when the Armory officers arrive."

Park starts moving. Mahayhay shouts after her: "And close your visor before you start another war with that face!"

The major doesn't have much to say to Caspian. She looks away and sighs. Her eyes are narrow and tired. Her hands are balled in fists. She seems to have gained some new white hairs. Major Mahayhay looks like Caspian feels.

"Nothing except a battle lost can be half so melancholy as a battle won," Caspian quotes, nodding in acknowledgement to the Major. Then, without waiting for a response, he sweeps past the two Mercenary officers, stalking silently after the retreating Marine towards the meeting.

Next: Armoured Armory


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## Tun Kai Poh (Dec 20, 2021)

*The Armour of Defiance*

When Tabitha awakens, the world feels like it's taken her apart and pulled out her soul. Then, in a fit of buyer's remorse, it seems to have stuffed her back into her ragdoll body and haphazardly sewn it back together. Almost immediately, a medical subaltern (waiting at her bedside) injects her with something that brings her up, fully awake and aware, energized.

"I let you sleep an extra half hour, sir," says Vera. "The Armory captains came late. They took time to get dressed up for us."

But not in naval uniform. No, the wall monitor shows Lowell Petrie and several other Harrison Armory officers arriving at the airlock, all dressed in marine boarding armour. Defiant even in defeat.

"Sending a message," says the NHP. "Also, I have a message from Vice Admiral Gentle."

It's short. "Well done. The Navy appreciates the deep sacrifices that your fleet has made. I appreciate everything you've done. I'm giving you authority to negotiate terms to keep the Armory fleet out of the DLS. But I can't expect a mere captain to lead this negotiation. Congratulations, Line Commander. This promotion has been long overdue."

Line Commander. Two whole ranks.

"This is absurd. I can't even move past the Strike Captain." Captain Petrie tries to fold up his armoured forearms to minimise his width in the narrowly-packed airlock.

"Stop whining, Petrie," hisses Commandant Maxim, the CAG of the Arminius. "It's not like anyone expects you to go in first. Nobody's ever going to count on you again."

There is an icy silence. Captain Petrie turns his helmeted head to glare at Maxim, which causes it to make a clunking noise as it bumps against his raised forearm.

"We have to wear this armour because we have to show them," says Bannon, wearily, like a woman who has not slept for days. "The armour represents our unbreakable fighting spirit. The Union captains will look upon us and we will tell them that we care not for pretty uniforms or chests full of medals, only for warlike disposition, which is why we wear the armour."

Commandant Almarik bites back a remark, something along the lines of "It's not symbolism if you have to spell it out." Instead she says: "This is okay. We look strong."

The Armory officers wait for the airlock to cycle.

Tabitha watches the feed for a moment, then turns to Vera. "Well, if they want to send a message then we send one too. Have our own Marines stand back. Only ceremonial arms in or anywhere in sight of the conference - nothing more threatening than dress weapons. Security can hang around outside. That includes the mercs."

She thoughtfully straightens her uniform, "You'd think that they would have learnt that we aren't going to play ball with their jingoistic games." 

She picks up her cap and strides towards the mess.

Next: Ready for fireworks


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## Tun Kai Poh (Dec 25, 2021)

*Ready for Fireworks*

When Caspian reaches the mess, the MSMC marine lieutenant is checking her excessively large pistol, making sure it has a full load in its chambers.

"Lieutenant Park," says Vera from the wall screen, "You and your team are ordered to remain outside the mess. Anyone on corridor duty is not permitted to carry sidearms or longarms. Turn them in to Warrant Officer Gbeho at the Sector 4 arms locker. And no, before you ask, those stun grenades are not permitted either."

Park sneers at the NHP and makes a throat-cutting gesture. In plain view of Caspian. Against a human officer, it would be considered an extremely serious offense. But of course, with the strangeness of NHP laws in Union, Vera and Bernd aren't considered real people, despite their Deimosian origins marking them as anything but artificial.

Tabitha and her fellow officers - Meade, Evans and Ki - arrive just as Park and the other merc guards are storming off. This leaves Captain Lutjens - still off on his own damaged frigate - as the highest ranking Union officer not attending. Colonel Milch, Major Mahayhay and Zoltan Pesh arrive around this time.

"If you don't mind, I'll sit this one out, in the enlisted mess." Milch rubs his forehead and winces. "I've got a splitting headache so the Major will sit in my stead. I'll get a drink and some pills and wait for the news."

Around this time, Caspian notices Tabitha's newly-adjusted uniform. "The Vice Admiral just sent in her promotion document," Vera says helpfully. "Our good Line Commander now matches Strike Captain Bannon in equivalent rank."

"Ready for the fireworks?" Tabitha nods at Caspian, rubbing her temple with a distracted look on her face.

"I suppose," Caspian shrugs, "I usually prefer to do my talking with my guns but I gather from your instructions, we are not aiming to overawe our guests with a display of superior firepower."

"No, but they are," Tabitha cocks her head slightly towards the door. "I don't see the need for any kind of show of force. I think you've already done that for us."

Caspian chuckles dryly. 

"Rather. But if any of our admittedly limited interactions with Bannon and her merry men are any indication I don't think they will respect anything besides an overwhelming display of force " 

"I do not disagree with that assessment, but any threat on our side will be implicit," Tabitha replies. "It isn't just our one battlegroup they need to worry about, after all. If they get uppity, we just need to remind them that Union does not require a blatant display of military might to still be the biggest dog on the block." Now the smile does reach Caspian's eyes.

"And just the threat of that force being applied is often better than its actual application. The fear of the stick is often greater than its sting," he gives a cold, sharklike smile. Tabitha nods again, "And familiarity with that stick just breeds contempt for it. Now everyone to attention - as far as we are concerned this is a formal diplomatic council so maintain protocol and ignore any of their antics to the contrary."

Next: Our dichotomy opens the negotiations


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## Tun Kai Poh (Dec 26, 2021)

*Opening Drinks*

The Armory officers are gathered at one end of the mess, all clad in assault hardsuits, all standing at the table rather than taking a seat. Powered armour enabling any one of them to punch a human head clean off. Hushed discussion. Cold glances at Captain Meade, Major Mahayhay and the other officers. 

When Tabitha and Caspian enter, the room falls silent. 

Zoltan Pesh enters just behind Tabitha. Someone in the Armory group coughs, possibly choking on their own spit. The terrifying reputation of the Fighting Shaitans precedes them. The Colonial Legionate typically would have a legal team aboard the fleet flagship, but none of Bannon's lawyers made it off the Shaka Zulu alive. 

Strike Captain Catrina Bannon refuses to seat her party. "We'll talk right here, right now," she says. 

Lowell Petrie catches Tabitha's eye from across the table. He gives her an apologetic shake of the head, but says nothing. 

"I speak for the Colonial Legionate of Harrison Armory," Bannon states flatly. "Captain Saint-Germaine, do you speak for the Union Navy?"

Tabitha smiles pleasantly and nods, "I am authorized to speak on behalf of the Union Navy, yes," she waves her hand casually at the others, "At ease, ladies and gentlemen."

There's an moment's pause, then Caspian slides gracefully into his seat, fixing Bannon with a cold smile as he does so. The others follow, seating themselves formally before the Armory contingent. Tabitha returns Lowell's gesture with a fleeting, almost imperceptible look of apology of her own before seating herself last. 

There's a quiet whirring at the table as the mess printers whip up drinks for the Union officers, mugs of steaming coffee, tea and cacao pop up from their under-table slots. Caspian, studiously ignores the hostile glares from across the table as he takes a surreptitious sip of his triple-shot Rigellian Blue Coffee to hide his sadistic glee. The set up is almost like a cadet disciplinary board hearing back at Cradle and everyone - at least everyone on the Union side - damn well knows it.

Tabitha places her tablet on the table and lays her hands in front of her. "So, Strike Captain Bannon," she says calmly, "Let us discuss your mission and how we can come to a settlement regarding the Armory's interests on New Creighton. Union's stance on the issue is clear - we cannot allow any additional reinforcement into the conflict zone, but I hope to come to a compromise that will be satisfactory for all involved."

Next: Infographics


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## Tun Kai Poh (Dec 27, 2021)

*Infographics*

Bannon clenches her teeth and shifts her jaw from one side to another slowly. "Yes."

She looks to one of her subordinates, a young woman with a Commandant's rank bar. Commandant Almarik taps a dataplate on her suit's forearm, and the mess table's holographic display illustrates the state of the 2nd Expeditionary Fleet in a series of infographics and 3D schematics.

"The six capital ships of the 2nd Fleet, carrying 4,851 Colonial Legionnaires," says Almarik, "were destined for Harrison Armory's holdings in the Dawnline Shore, with the express purpose of reinforcing them against the outrageous aggression of the Karrakin Trade Baronies and their local collaborators. We do not accept Union as a neutral peacekeeper, and neither do the majority of the stakeholders throughout the Dawnline Shore, as Union's actions have shown it to be blatantly biased in favour of the Karrakins. However, given that we have been fought to a standstill, and will not be able to outrun incoming Union Navy Auxiliary reinforcements, we concede that our purpose has been thwarted - and we will need to withdraw. Eventually."

A third of the Armory fleet lights up in red, then fades into black.

"This is our current status."

Another sixth of the fleet lights up in amber, indicating damage to the Arminius and most of its escorts.

Commandant Maxim, the acting captain of the damaged carrier, lets out a hiss of a breath. He glares at Tabitha's destroyer captains, not sure who to blame for the carnage on his ship.

Almarik continues. "We will need at least seven days to get the Arminius repaired. During this time, we expect the protection of the Union fleet." 

"Protection?" Captain Meade leans forward. "You want us to guard your ships?" 

"If you want to act like the peacekeepers you pretend to be," says Bannon icily. "There are Baronic warships at large in the Palisade Strait. They could strike at us while we remain here, recovering from the battle."

Major Mahayhay snorts. "The Palisade Strait? That's at least a hundred days away!" 

"That we know of," interjects Bannon, an insincere smirk on her face. "We can't be sure of their latest stealth and transportation capabilities." 

Commandant Almarik interjects with as much of a game face as she can put on. "Your salvage operations on the Wagner will take a few days, isn't that right? We're bound to be neighbours for that time as it is. After the Arminius is sufficiently repaired and spaceworthy, the fleet will commence withdrawal to Kwan-Riam Market in the Long Rim." 

"Interesting," says Vera. "We were not aware that Kwan-Riam was aligned with Harrison Armory." 

Bannon frowns. "It doesn't matter what you know. They've thrown in with us. All you need to know is that we will be taking the 2nd Expeditionary Fleet there."

Next: Blood in the water


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## Tun Kai Poh (Dec 29, 2021)

*Blood in the Water*

"I see no issue with covering your fleet during the repair and recovery efforts," Tabitha says thoughtfully, leafing over intelligence reports on Karrakin dispositions in the area and flipping between those and Vera's documentation on the fighting over New Creighton.

Caspian glances sidelong at Tabitha but keeps his peace. The Purview fleet will be an extremely tempting target for any marauding Karrakin forces and he no longer has his big guns with him. He catches Meade's eye. The Carrier Captain returns the concern.

"But I will need you to keep your ships stood down through the process and during transit, engaging in self defense only,"

Every Union head turns a hair.

"We only have one fully operational battlegroup, Line Commander," Meade says softly, "Between the loss of the Wagner and the casualties taken by the Mirrorsmokes it is a mighty thin line standing between any Karrakin attack and the Purview."

"And the Karrakins are out for blood, Line Commander. Word of the Meritorious Rex and the massacre of the Shirline will have them looking for a chance for revenge and this will be the perfect target, especially given our good Strike Captain's connection to Wilder." Caspian follows crisply, pulling out his notes on the Rex, "That little incident on Lighthouse should make it clear that the Karrakins are almost certain to try and kick the Purview while they're down and they will have to know that we're badly shot up as well. House Stone in particular doesn't have any reason to look favorably on us."

He glances over at Bannon and then back at Tabitha, "It may be diplomatically troublesome to allow the Strike Captain and her fleet to maintain combat readiness but I don't think the Karrakins are going to be too chatty when they rather inevitably drop into realspace with enough firepower to flatten what's left of the 2nd Expeditionary fleet." He pauses, "And you won't have my guns to make them go away quickly either."

"I understand the concern, Captain, but as long as they are under our aegis, they are neutral and should operate as such," Tabitha says, stroking her chin. "Strike Captain, will that be agreeable to you? We will provide cover for you throughout your recovery efforts but so long as you remain under protection your fleet will operate under strict neutrality rules regardless of who shows up - Karrakin, Purview," she looks at Bannon.

"No contact or coordination with any additional Purview forces. If you are agreeable to this I can acquiesce to having the James I and Ching Shih remain fully stood up under the rules of armed neutrality."

Next: In the spirit


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## Tun Kai Poh (Dec 31, 2021)

*Spirit of Cooperation*

Bannon keeps a cold face on as Tabitha speaks. She just barely glances at Captain Petrie and Commandant Almarik. "That is acceptable. And the Hannibal as well, of course."

The representative from the Arminius, Maxim, clears his throat. "We may get the Arminius' hangars operational quite soon. Will my pilots be allowed to run combat air patrols?"

Major Mahayhay exchanges an angry look with Caspian. Both the Mirrorsmokes and the Richard Wagner suffered significant losses at the hands of the Arminius' fighter-bombers. Mahayhay shakes her head.

Tabitha takes a moment to think, "I will draw the line at an armed CAP. If you wish to continue to conduct exercises close in I will allow that but I think three ships plus our own two battlegroups will be sufficient for defensive operations until you're clear of the conflict zone. The Arminius' wings and escorts will remain disarmed and active for S&R and picket duty only,"

Commandant Maxim bristles at Tabitha's reply. "That's not -"

Bannon cuts him off. "Agreed. In the spirit of this truce, our patrols will be unarmed. We all understand -" and she shoots a glance at Maxim, "that this is the best way to move ahead given the circumstances."

The rest of the talks go relatively smoothly. Zoltan Pesh takes notes and prepares a formal memorandum of understanding for both sides to sign. The Armory captains have little more to say, and at present, it's time for everyone to depart.

Bannon approaches Tabitha in her hardsuit, looking not a little awkward. "May we speak, just you and I?"

Lowell Petrie looks alarmed and suspicious at this, but being outranked and surrounded by his peers, says nothing at this.

In a hidden compartment under the floor, Vera takes control of a folded PIPECLEANER combat subaltern, lying in wait. She won't let Tabitha face anyone alone.

Tabitha cocks her head in surprise, "Of course," she says, and waves the others out of the room. Caspian looks doubtfully at the two of them and shares a look with Captain Meade and Major Mahayhay. He keeps his peace though and leaves with a stiff about-face and click of his heels to signify his displeasure.  

Tabitha ignores the troubled looks from her other fleet captains as they file out of the mess and stands to face Bannon. "What do you have in mind?"

Next: Tangled timelines


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## Tun Kai Poh (Jan 2, 2022)

*Timelines*

Catrina Bannon relaxes her pose just slightly once she's out of sight of the others. Her voice doesn't turn warmer, but she seems perhaps slower and more pensive. "I'm not your friend, Tabitha Saint-Germaine, but...we are kin, of sort. Cosmopolitan kin, almost by blood."

She looks into Tabitha's eyes. "Did your mother ever mention a man by the name of Riley Leylance? My great-grandfather, a naval officer. He served with her on a fast frigate, during those many troubled years, after ThirdComm rose to power. The story is that he greatly admired his bold, beautiful comrade, wanted to marry her - but his family had other plans. They recalled him from the Navy and all migrated to Ras Shamra, to follow that nascent dream of John Creighton Harrison, to build something stronger and better from the ruins of SecComm. And my great-grandfather served that dream, until he finally settled down and retired planetside on Rittermeer, two hundred years ago."

Bannon gazes off into the undefined distance, her voice growing soft. "If the Fates had changed one thread of our history, we would be blood." She turns to Tabitha again. "You might have been my Cosmopolitan grand-aunt. But it turned out differently, and here we are, awash in the blood of our dead crews. The irony hurts. It hurts me more than the hundreds I lost on my ship."

"She did mention him in passing," Tabitha says. She looks away for a moment and sighs, "On little things do destinies turn and all of us are joined if only by our shared humanity," a pause. "My apologies if that sounds too sentimental. The irony of it is, as you say, painful and I fear there are more bitter encounters in the years ahead," another pause. Another sigh.

"I understand you are friends with Strike Captain Wilder." 

Bannon nods. "He and I were close, yes, before we shipped out on our respective commands. I'm sure you're eager to know what was going through his mind during the Shirline incident. You, the DOJ officer you have on board, the Karrakins, and countless others across the Shore. Was it his own actions, orders from above? Was he provoked?"

She waits a beat. "Sadly, I have no juicy gossip for you. In my heart, I know he has his principles, and his own reasons. Perhaps you'll have a chance to ask him yourself. If you do, take good care of your ships and crew." Her lips curve into a little smile.

Next: Spitting


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## Tun Kai Poh (Jan 3, 2022)

*Spitting*

Out in the corridor, the officers of the 2nd Expeditionary Fleet stand by, warily eyeing the 2nd CRG's own captains. Maxim takes an aggressive step towards Ki Su-Lynn, cocking his head to one side as he recognises her uniform. "Subline captain, is it? You command a destroyer? How funny."

Caspian can feel the waves of aggression rolling off the Armory commandant, like heat.

Ki doesn't back off, but instead sidesteps. Maxim circles one way as she wheels back the other way, eyes locked on his.

He spits his words like fire. "I could have sworn it was a destroyer that came in under our carrier's guns and slaughtered two hundred of our spacers and hangar crew. And that's why Strike Captain Gopalakrishnan, the finest officer I know, is now in terminal stasis. They say it's a coin-flip, you know. Whether he'll recover at all." He holds one armoured hand up at her, miming a coin-toss. "A flip of the coin! It should have been you, Red bitch!"

Ki grins, her eyes flashing dangerously, "Should've, would've, could've, Purvie," she gives an arrogant little shimmy and her grin broadens. "I mean, you came into this fight expecting us to just roll over and die because you're some big-shot capship driver? And you're angry that things turned out badly for you?" she laughs, "It could've been any one of us. That's the price of duty, èr bǎi wŭ - sometimes the little bitch bites back," she hisses through bared teeth.

"It is the price of duty," Caspian interjects coldly, stepping smartly between the two officers as they are about to lunge at each other, "Which includes maintaining decorum on the deck, Captain," he glares down his nose at Ki who grins defiantly back. "I know Line Captain Saint-Germaine is somewhat more liberal with you but I expect my officers to maintain discipline at all times. And I have seniority here -" his frigid gaze turns on the commandant, "- and the same holds true to you, Commandant. Or does the Purview view it as acceptable conduct to antagonize foreign officers during a diplomatic conference?"

_Caspian has to roll to keep them from launching at each other, but unfortunately his trait Cold comes into play here, giving a -1d6 to the roll. He rolls 1d20 and gets 17, then a 1d6 and gets 6 for the Difficulty. With a total of 11, he succeeds._

"Ahh." Commandant Maxim glares at Caspian, his fury held in check - and redirected into a long, long gaze at the captain of the hated Wagner. He raps metal knuckles against his chunky armoured hip.

His peer Almarik hurries to his side, taking his arm gently. "Come on, Maxim." He relents, backing off.

Captain Meade and the others, likewise, beckon Ki to pull back before she shoots her mouth off any worse than she already has.

Next: Dealing with the straggler


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## Tun Kai Poh (Jan 5, 2022)

*The Straggler, Part 3*

Bannon looks down, then back up, in a self-conscious manner. "Tabitha, you should speak with your friend Lowell Petrie. His borderline treasonous behaviour is going to get him killed by his own crew. If he has a problem with prosecuting this war, he'd better seek asylum with Union. Tell him this is his only chance."

She opens the door, calls out to Captain Petrie. "Your old friend wants to have a word." Then she looks back meaningfully at Tabitha. "Be persuasive. I would rather he defect, than the more barbaric alternative. Good luck, my kin."

Then Tabitha and Lowell are alone in the room. Lowell looks awkward as a a schoolboy in his hardsuit. He rubs his head. "Tabitha. You look good. I'm so glad the fighting wasn't worse."

He looks back at the door where Bannon exited. "What was that about?"


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## Tun Kai Poh (Jan 11, 2022)

*The Straggler, Part 4*

Tabitha sighs. "That was a little heart to heart. It is a challenging time for all of us trying to look out for each other, trying to balance what we see as our duty to our people and our flag," she pauses a moment, then continues softly, "She warned me that if you have an issue persecuting this conflict, then it is better that you seek asylum with us. I gather this is the one chance she's giving you to do so before things escalate beyond... what she is willing to intervene in."

"This war has escalated beyond what we as individuals can do to prevent it, Lowell. Bannon seems conflicted about the resolution of this engagement but she's also strictly loyal to the Purview cause. She said that your behavior would get you killed by your own crew and she'd prefer your defection to other less savory resolutions. She's not going to step in to protect you, Lowell, you know that."

Another sigh. Tabitha closes her eyes, "I'm... we are all incredibly indebted of what you did Lowell. I have the authority to grant asylum if you seek it but in the end that's really on you. Maybe the Karrakins will strike at us and you'll have a chance to prove yourself but that will only be a temporary reprieve. You know that there will be an investigation into what to your leadership will be viewed as a serious defeat and no one is going to stick with you when that happens. They seem to prefer people like Wilder."

"If there are any of your officers and crew who would seek asylum as well, I will extend this to them, while there is still a chance."

_Roll: 19+3 (Diplomatic) : 22_

Lowell's face drops as he listens to Tabitha. He glances again at the door, putting a hand on his chin. "I must be getting slow, not to see the signs. I really didn't think Bannon knew. But you're right, if it's come to this point, I can't stay with the fleet."

His distress becomes more apparent. He checks his suit's dataslate, and quickly sends off a signal. "I...I think some of my officers may be in danger. If I can...no, they're offline. What's happened?"

His comms only returns silence.


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## Tun Kai Poh (Jan 16, 2022)

*The Straggler, Part 5*

"Stay here, Lowell," Tabitha says quietly, laying a gentle but firm hand on him. She taps her comms.

"Vera, get me a private line with Bannon. Let her know that Captain Petrie has requested and been granted asylum with Union and I have extended this offer to those of his men who are similarly inclined if she is agreeable. Unfortunately, it also seems that he no longer has contact with his ship. I'd like to inquire if this is on her authority or if things have gotten out of hand on the James I."

Strike Captain Bannon returns to the doorway, her face grim. She sighs at the look on Lowell's face. "What did you think was going to happen? You couldn't do your job."

"Why can't I talk to my people?"

"They're not your people anymore. Several of your senior officers came to me. They were of the mind that you should be jailed or shot."

"Wh-what?" Lowell sputters, unable to compose himself.

"They're in charge now, and the last thing they need is you messing things up for them. They have to clean up the ship without you."

"They'll purge the junior officers!" Lowell is red with outrage.

Bannon looks over to Tabitha, shaking her head, then turns back to Lowell. "This wasn't entirely my idea. Believe it or not, you still have friends among the captains, and you have...well, their pity. It's not like we've been trusting you with our secrets for the past year, you know. This is the best way."

Next: Cry for help


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## Tun Kai Poh (Jan 17, 2022)

*The Straggler, Part 6*

The Armory officers are standing by in the corridor, mostly keeping to themselves while they wait for Bannon. As for Major Mahayhay and the Eland captains, they stand some distance away, watching warily.

Caspian hears a distant cry. It's coming from the enlisted mess down the way.

"Papa! Somebody help him! Medic!"

Was that...Lieutenant Park? The psycho marine?

Caspian pulls out his comms pad and urgently sends a shipwide ping for emergency medical assistance in the enlisted mess as he strides hurriedly towards the call, taking a split second to shoot a warning glare at Captain Ki as he breezes past her.

Tabitha nods quietly, "Understood, Strike Captain,"

She turns to Lowell Petrie and squeezes his shoulder firmly, "Come, Lowell. I can understand how you feel but we are all, ultimately, in the Navy. You've done all you could to avert unnecessary bloodshed and - I can admit it here - you did. Even if your own crew don't know it. But there's only so much that one man can do to stop the tides of war. Maybe you will get another opportunity to answer that higher calling in future but for now, its time to take a break. You've stuck your neck out enough to avoid war and Strike Captain Bannon is sticking her own neck out for you to let you seek asylum with us." she nods appreciatively towards Bannon. She turns back to Lowell earnestly.

"As soldiers, as human beings, we spend our entire existence preparing for something we hope will never come and, when it does, it is on each of our own consciences where we choose to draw the line between our duty as soldiers to our governments and to each other as human beings. And in the end that is what we have to live with because in war, there are never any good outcomes."

_Try to pacify Lowell, Roll: 17 (-1 for idealistic)_

Lowell sinks perceptibly into his hardsuit. He can't bring himself to speak for some time.

Bannon leaves wordlessly.

For Lowell, there will be time for interviews and debriefings. Captain Tiburce Rodin of the DOJ/HR will want to pick his brain, too. But now, he can rest.

Vera flashes Tabitha a notification: medical emergency reported in the enlisted mess. Ship's Doctor Panarin en route. One medical subaltern already on scene.

Captain Var is also on scene.

"Papa!" Lieutenant Park kneels over the fallen figure of Colonel Milch. The man's face is red, his eyes shut. His chest moves shallowly, rapidly.

As Caspian approaches, the armoured marine straightens, looking around desperately. "He just, just collapsed. He said he had a splitting headache..." Her voice is cracked, shaky.

The same medical subaltern that treated Tabitha is here now. Park shuffles out of the way and the machine gets to work, laying the colonel in a safe position, checking his vitals. Instruments unfold from the subaltern's forearms.

It speaks with Vera's voice. "Administering cranial nanoinjection."

Park gasps as the subaltern stabs a needle into the base of Milch's skull. In moments, it withdraws the needle.

Seconds tick by. Onlookers appear at the entrance of the mess - mostly Union, but also the small Armory commandant, Almarik. Park looks daggers at the enemy officer, but stays close to the fallen colonel.

"It was a stroke," reports Vera to all present, but also to Tabitha. "Nanites have located the affected site and are dissolving the clot."

Major Mahayhay walks quietly to Caspian and Park. She speaks with disarming calmness. "The doctor will be here in a minute, with some more subalterns. They'll take him to sickbay. Come on, Lieutenant. Let's all move back and let them work. Colonel's in good hands."

Park sobs. "Papa," she says.

Next: Weakness


----------



## Tun Kai Poh (Jan 19, 2022)

*Held Together With Duct Tape*

Tabitha looks sadly at Lowell. She pops open a comms channel to try and round up as many of the officers and men he'd interacted with in a past long behind them. There are precious few - such is the life of a cosmopolitan - but at least there are a number who are within his temporal bubble. To be cut adrift from his ship and his crew that he'd sacrificed so much for... she sighs again. Socialization for asylum-seekers isn't something she's had to deal with but now she has a stack of professional papers delivered to her datapad for review. She stays with him wordlessly until her crew can escort him gently away.

In the enlisted mess, Caspian straightens and silently fills in the details to Tabitha, highlighting his concerns regarding the reliability of their available ships: with the crew issues on the James I now apparent and the incapacitation of Colonel Milch, the little fleet is more exposed than ever even assuming any disaffected officers and men on the James I don't decide to take advantage of this weakness in the Union line. He purses his lips in frustration as he turns stiffly to face the onlookers.

"Right everyone, the situation is under control. Return to your posts and clear the corridors for any further corpsmen."

Mahayhay stays with Caspian as some of the other Mirrorsmoke marines lead Park away. The major watches her go, while speaking to Caspian in a low tone. "That one's always been a troublemaker, but she's followed Colonel Milch for years. He recruited her out of an orphanage on OB902. They have a long history. We'll have to watch her closely."

Lani Mahayhay crosses her arms and shivers ever so slightly. "If the Colonel hangs on, it'll be at least some consolation. We've been hit hard. Ninety-nine pilots dead, along with thirty-six marines and thirty deck crew. And I understand your ships took a fair share of losses, a hundred-plus, was it?"

Her words remind Caspian of something - the mercenary NHP, Cunningham, has sent out a request to the Union officers to hold a joint funeral service aboard the Shamokin Rising, since its hangar bays have enough room to accomodate a fair number of representatives from each ship.

In the CIC of the Hannibal, Captain Karina Ashanti paces fretfully. Strike Captain Bannon's last instructions were to send a contingent of security personnel to the James I, to assist in operations there. After that, nothing.

"Something bad is going down there," she mutters to herself. "Stoic!" she calls to her ship's NHP, "Any updates from the James I?"

"None, sir. I'll let you know the moment I hear anything."

Ashanti brushes down her uniform - another nervous gesture. "Has the Strike Captain pushed off yet?"

"Negative. Her transport is awaiting takeoff from the Bukharin. Should I call her?"

"Hell, no, don't disturb her right now."

A flicker on the CIC display gets Ashanti's attention. "Is that a problem, that ship?"

"Negative," replies Stoic. "It's just the Björn Järnsida, getting underway. They have completed engine repairs and are moving to form up with the Union fleet."

"Are they -"

"No, they're not combat-ready. Held together with duct tape, as the saying goes. Not a threat."

"Good. Tell the sublines to keep well clear, let her through and don't give them any trouble."

Next: Potential police action


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## Tun Kai Poh (Jan 22, 2022)

*Police Work*

Checking his datapad, Caspian notes that the request has been approved for the service and arrangements are being made for the ceremony as soon as the perimeter is secured. Notably Captains Ki and Evans will be absent with only their second in commands attending - Line Captain Saint-Germaine has assigned the two Destroyers to establish a picket line around the formation along with one of the Shamokin's fighter wings. The other will be fully armed but available as part of the ceremony.

Caspian nods silently to Major Mahayhay, "Yes. It is fortunate the losses weren't heavier," he shrugs. "I am concerned about the news from the Purview fleet. Line-Captain Saint Germaine seems willing to let them sort out their... crew issues and she seems to trust this Strike Captain Bannon to handle the situation with the necessary... tact. I have my doubts. If we have to intervene on board the James I..." he trails off and shakes his head angrily.

"How much training do your people have in policework? And with the Colonel incapacitated, am I correct in assuming that you will be in charge? How ready are your people in case things escalate? I don't like that that little Purview carrier driver saw everything."

"Police action on the James I? More like storming the ship, if you ask me. Our marines have plenty of experience in police actions, and their morale is still high. But if we get involved on that ship, the fleets will start shooting. And then nobody wins."

Mahayhay turns to go, then stops and says over her shoulder: "And yes, for your information, I am in command for the time being. For how much longer, I don't know. The Board isn't eager to keep a carrier without mechs in the area of ops. Sooner or later, we'll be withdrawn."

Caspian nods and turns away, his hands clasped behind him, muttering about the lack of preparedness, the vexation plain on his face. He tells himself that it is simply a reflection of his own impotence, stranded on the Bukharin without his own ship. It does not make him feel any better as he stalks angrily back towards where he'd left the opposing officers. 

He almost wishes Captain Ki has stirred something else up so he'd have the satisfaction of punching her to relieve the frustration.

By the time Caspian has returned to the corridor, he's almost missed it all. Strike Captain Bannon and her contingent - conspicuously missing Captain Petrie - are on the move, their armoured boots tramping on deckplates as they head back towards their lander.

"They're eager to make themselves scarce," says Captain Meade of the Shamokin Rising. "The James I has gone dark, and it looks like something has gone wrong on board. And the Purvies aren't talking about it."

Bernd also flashes Caspian a notification that Captain Lutjens has finally rejoined the fleet, and is asking Caspian and his command crew to join him for drinks.

Lots of drinks.

After all, they've all been through Hell.

Next: Sounds of silence


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## Tun Kai Poh (Jan 24, 2022)

*Sounds of Silence*

As the Purview delegation departs the Bukharin's shuttle hangar, the deck crews breathe a sigh of relief. The two fleets have formalized their uneasy truce, although the surprise defection of Captain Petrie has certainly thrown a spanner into the works.

Even now, the James I appears to have gone completely silent. No shuttle traffic, no maintenance spacewalks, not even routine ALLCOMMS beacon signals going out.

"We're keeping a close watch on the James I," Vera tells Tabitha. "Destroyers are on standby in case their 'internal affairs' become a bigger problem. Strike Captain Bannon seems to think it will all be settled soon, but she's been wrong about any number of things in the past two days."

Meanwhile, as Tabitha can see on the holographic displays, shipping traffic remains tightly constrained to relatively safe lanes, flowing between Lighthouse Station and various worlds on either side of the vast Pallisade Gap. So far, the commercial ships have only light escorts, with no armed ship heavier than a corvette.

"There is one Karrakin carrier group inbound to Lighthouse from DS8 Upper Laurent, ostensibly to provide security for the House of Stone ships stranded on Lighthouse. But it's still almost a month away. We and our Armory counterparts will be underway by then," says Vera. "Do you want to have a friendly word with the Karrakins to make sure they behave?"

"I don't think that would be necessary," Tabitha says, rubbing her temple. "Not unless they make moves towards us. Just an official news bulletin through diplomatic channels will suffice for now to make it clear that we will be covering the Purview fleet until they're clear and keep a close eye on potential inbounds. If the vultures start circling then we give them a talking to."

"Understood, Line Commander," Vera says, with just a bit more emphasis on Tabitha's new rank. "As for other matters, the ship's counselor is speaking with Captain Petrie. Captain Meade is preparing the Shamokin Rising for tomorrow's services. Captains Ki and Evans are returning to the Undine and the Unicorn. They'll be back on patrol shortly, and will be keeping an eye on the Purview fleet. I will manage things on the Bukharin with the junior officers."

After a brief pause, Vera adds: "It's been far too eventful lately. But all spacers must take rest where they can find it. So. Your schedule is clear for the next watch. Go on, sir. Do something relaxing. I insist."

Tabitha isn't quite sure whether the battle was worse than the aftermath. She sinks tiredly into the plush faux-leather couch of her quarters and closes her eyes briefly, stretching to work the weariness out of her limbs. The cleanup is still ongoing and tensions remain high throughout the fleet with more than one worried eye being cast towards the James I. She sighs. Its quiet moments like this which makes her wonder if she should have pressed Bannon to transfer any conscientious objectors over as asylum-seekers. Lowell is still broken up about what happened but she pushes the thought aside. Bannon will already have a lot of explaining to do once she gets out of the Dawnline Shore and Tabitha isn't inclined to put her opposite number in a tighter spot than necessary, especially if Lowell's worries about his crew prove unjustified. 

In effect she's trading the lives of any potential dissidents on the James I in exchange for maintaining Union's diplomatic position in the conflict. She's not sure she's comfortable with that.

She settles in, half asleep, thumbing through the latest dispatches and headlines coming through the Shore as, around her, the Bukharin settles into an uneasy routine of watches. The Battlegroup has taken little damage which has lead to some somewhat mean-spirited ribbing between her crews and the survivors of Splinter regarding which Battlegroup had eaten the most shots in the conflict so far. Apparently there's a betting pool being put up to see which flagship will be the first to catch a spinal gun much to the unanimous disapproval of CSOs Richards and Gbeho.

Line Captain Tabitha Saint-Germaine nods off in her seat to the sonorous thrum of the Bukharin's generators, an alarm set to wake her up in time for the funeral ceremonies.

In the Björn's Marine Gunnery Range, Caspian lowers his pistol and reloads another magazine - his twelfth so far. Last one, he tells himself as he takes aim at the target almost 200 meters away. After this, he's scheduled to speak to some of the survivors of the Wagner. The Captain of the Richard Wagner steadies himself, pushing all thoughts of the battle from his mind as he carefully sends shots downrange.

It will be some days before a preliminary simulation of the battle will be available for him to work with. Until that time, he just needs to keep himself occupied to prevent another altercation with the ever defiant Captain Ki. He's already filed a complaint about her in triplicate but given her performance during the battle, he's also fairly sure that she'll get away with a slap on the wrist. 

Another steadying breath. Another set of shots downrange.

Lutjens is still nursing a large bump on his head from a loose datapad during his emergency nearlight ejection. Its still a marvel that no one was killed during that. At least none of the crew of the Björn or the survivors of the Wagner she'd picked up. The last of the bodies of the Ching Shih's Sherman pilots were repatriated just an hour ago along with the survivors. 

It'll be a while before they can get to work putting his ship back together but he's already got the preliminary plans prepared for her triumphant rebirth. At the thought of that, a smile finally cracks across the cold face of the Union officer as he plants his final shot through the bullseye of the target. 

It'll be good to get back in the saddle.

Next: Service for the fallen


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## Tun Kai Poh (Jan 26, 2022)

*Bootprints, Part 1*

The long, mournful tones of the assembly call sound out through the vast hangar of the Shamokin Rising.

Hundreds of crew representatives from across the combined Union-Mirrorsmoke fleet are gathered here, standing ready, solemn. For some junior crew, this was their first service for the fallen. Before the service, there was some whispering among them, curiosity and a bit of a jittery mood. But their seniors quickly hushed them up. As for the mercenaries, who had seen their share of death, even the unruly Mirrorsmoke marines knew to keep quiet.

The assembly horn plays.

In predetermined spaces across the hangar deck, alongside the rows of standing crew, the holographic lights light up. The bootprints of hundreds of their dead, here for one last assembly. The living blink back tears, or sob loudly, as is permitted by naval tradition.

Assembly plays out in full, as it has across Union space for thousands of years. Then comes the peals of the ship's bell.

CSO Gbeho reads the roll of the fallen: Union and Mirrorsmoke alike, not separated, but instead algorithmically mixed together in death. His deep voice echoes across the decks of every ship in the fleet, from the mighty Bukharin to the tiny Undine. Crew on watch, crew at rest: They all stop what they're doing and bear witness to the lives of those who have been lost.

Each battlegroup commander now will speak in honour of the fallen. First Captain Caspian Var, then Major Mahayhay on behalf of the Mirrorsmokes, then Line Commander Saint-Germaine.

Caspian stands solemnly in full dress as he addresses the assembly, "We are gathered here today to remember the fallen who gave their lives in the line of duty. Fortune takes whom she pleases without care or reason, but that is what we do. Ours is the lot of placing ourselves at her mercy and though we may nudge the dice, she has the final say.

"But pride and honor kindle what fickle fortune would put out. We are gathered here not just to remember the fallen but to receive the mantle of their noble sacrifice, of their determination in the face of the Titania and their triumph on board the Hannibal. 

"Though they have fallen, their memory - their legacy - lives on with those of us who stand here. Their comrades in arms and especially those who proudly bear the names of their units. Mirrorsmokes, Fool's Gold, heirs to a legacy of victory against the odds and never backing down from a fight. 

"So remember, and bear that legacy with honor and pride."


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## Tun Kai Poh (Jan 27, 2022)

*Bootprints, Part 2*

Major Lani Mahayhay steps up to the podium, clad in the Mirrorsmoke Mercenary Company's full dress greens. It's the only time any of the Union spacers have ever seen her dressed this formally, and while she wears it with just a little discomfort, she keeps her chin up.

"When our carrier shipped out from Lighthouse Station, we were two thousand, three hundred and sixteen strong. No others I have been prouder to serve with than those two thousand, three hundred and sixteen souls. I watched them at work and at play, on the decks and on the float. I saw them off on their flights, their boarding pods. And now I bid farewell to two hundred and eighty-five heroes of our company. They died that others may live, that the dream of a better life may belong to the people of the Shore. These are their faces and voices."

A projection lights up the blank hangar wall behind her, thirty meters high. A montage taken from personal recordings of the Mirrorsmoke mercenaries. Marines, roughhousing and joking in their quarters, as playing cards float past in microgravity. Pilots in the mess, clinking mugs and trading loose salutes. Deck crew, posing for group pictures at the starboard duty hangar that took a heavy hit during the battle. Flight leaders from Guiscard and Isabeau Wings, singing poorly as they celebrate a birthday together with flaming cupcakes on a skewer. Most notably, there's a clip of Colonel Milch, rolling up his sleeves, joining in alongside a maintenance crew as they clean up a fluid spill in a crawlspace.

Milch remains in serious condition, and still hasn't regained consciousness. His inclusion in the video montage may indeed be a contingency.

As the video clips fade out, Mahayhay seems to take a few beats to find her voice again, blinking away tears. 

"Today is a day for all of us, living and dead. The dead, to be set to rest. The living, to grieve and find a way, forward together. Our departed will be set in Union's roll of the fallen, remembered side-by-side with Union Navy spacers in the history of this conflict."

There is another long pause. She salutes the fallen, as do all the MSMC spacers. "That is all I have to say," she adds, softly, and steps down.


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## Tun Kai Poh (Jan 29, 2022)

*Bootprints, Part 3*

Tabitha dips her head in silence as she steps up after Mahayhay.

"There isn't much I can say after the eloquence of Captain Var and Major Mahayhay. There isn't much I can say that will make any of this any easier. We have all lost friends and comrades and that only the varying passage of time will heal many of the wounds we have taken.

"I wish I could say that I remember each man and woman who is no longer with us and that I could remember every voice that is now stilled and every light that has been dimmed. But that is beyond me and it is beyond any one of us. We can only do our part, hold on to the memories that we share and together keep that echo alive of those friends whose names now sit silently on the rolls of the fallen.

"And all I can do is promise to do my best to ensure that their sacrifice would not be in vain, that the great cause of humanity that they strove for shall come through the gathering storm stronger than before, so that even as we grieve and remember, we can look to the stars and remember each light - brief, yet eternal - lit the way for something better for others."

Tabitha bows her head for a moment, "It has been an honor to have fought by your side and I give my heartfelt thanks to each and every one of you - the living and the dead - for all that you have done and all that you have given to bring peace and justice to the people of the Dawnline Shore."

She again bows her head in silent respect for a moment before quietly leaving the podium.

Next: Dented drifter


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## Tun Kai Poh (Jan 31, 2022)

*Drifting, Part 1*

The ceremony aboard the Shamokin Rising comes to a solemn end. Dismissed, the attending crew drift away, in ones, twos or more, to drink away their grief on their own time. Shifts change, sleep cycles go by.

A full day passes, and the lights come on aboard the James I. Strike Captain Bannon has taken over command of the dreadnought, and there are no signs of whatever disturbances raged across its decks a day ago.

And a day later, aboard the Purview fleet, another ceremony is held. The Armory losses were far greater, almost disproportionately so, mostly due to the bloody-handed work of Battlegroup Splinter. And everyone knows it.

It is during this time, when the Armory crews are preoccupied with their own funeral services, that Lieutenant Vau's patrol comes across a drifting cargo module within the debris field. Dented, marked with Purview symbols and purple lines.

There are no heat sources aboard, although a bit of pressure within suggests some faint traces of atmosphere. Vau chooses discretion, calling in a Union S&R boat but leaving the Armory fleet out of it...

The situation pulls Tabitha and her officers away from their routine duties, and they assemble quickly at the ventral access hangar, where Gbeho and his team are going over the remains found in the cargo module.

"Line Commander," says Gbeho, "we've brought in a stray cargo box from the James I...there are three bodies inside. It looks like they suffocated. They had virtually no provisions, no electronics except for a civilian emergency beacon...which was broken."

Captain Tiburce Rodin has inserted himself into every opportunity to analyse the situation on the Armory fleet, and this is no exception. The tall dark man bends down to take a look at the device. "The beacon may have been damaged in a struggle of some sort. They have torn uniforms, defensive scratches and cuts. And if I were to guess...if they were in a mutiny, they'd have to get rid of any Colonial Legionate devices that could be used to track them. They may have been hoping to drift clear and signal our patrols to pick them up...but their beacon failed and they couldn't survive long after that."

The dead crew are all quite young. Junior engineering personnel. Tabitha remembers that during debriefing, Lowell mentioned that his chief engineer, Lieutenant Conroy, was one of his main allies in the effort to delay the James I's arrival. Many of the engineering crew were quite loyal to Conroy.


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## Tun Kai Poh (Feb 1, 2022)

*Drifting, Part 2*

"Noted, Captain," Tabitha says quietly. "Do we have any options in dealing with this matter? I had hoped that Bannon would have been able to sort things out without further bloodshed but she was not agreeable to allow her rebellious crews the opportunity to seek asylum and I don't see any good way to deal with this."

She thinks for a moment, "I'll have Meade tighten the patrols around the Armory fleet - closer sweeps through the debris field especially along trajectories that may indicate an ejection from the James I. Its unlikely we'll find anyone alive now but there's always a chance."

"Meanwhile, have the service crews prep a burial service for these poor souls. See if we can ID them. If not, I'll send a note to Bannon requesting identification. I'd rather not involve Lowell in this at this point."


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## Tun Kai Poh (Feb 3, 2022)

*Drifting, Part 3*

"That seems like the best move," says Vera to Tabitha. "Although we should do a thorough investigation to see if we can extract any intel from this scene."

Gbeho gingerly fishes out a small personal data recorder from the pocket of a young deck officer. Her face is ashen and cold. Her glassy eyes are frozen open, staring at the ceiling. Gbeho clicks a control, and an audio recording plays.

"My name is Camelia Stanton of the PCV-DN James I. If you get this, and you're a friend, please, please let my family know what happened here... The Lord Director's war strategy is a waste of blood and treasure, when the Armory has economic and diplomatic tools that it can apply to reach our goals for the Dawnline Shore. Our captain and chief engineer believed in a better way, and in keeping with the Direct Debate Manifesto of the NNDS, we took action to keep the ship from entering the fight against Union."

Vera displays an intel summary for all officers present: The New Nanyang Debate Society was a highly successful student organization known for fierce intellectual discourse and promotion of free thought across various Purview educational institutions, including Purview Interstellar College. Many young naval, legal and diplomatic personnel have had at least some experience with NNDS, and many splinter debate groups have sprung up following its recent forced dissolution by academic authorities. The UIB classifies it as a major source of dissident thought within the Purview.

Stanton's voice grows faint, as oxygen gets thinner.

"We helped to avert... a bigger and bloodier defeat for the fleet. And for that we are being rounded up, arrested...   we refused to go quietly. Our escape module was undetected, but our beacon malfunctioned. We...we regret nothing. To all the other alumni of the NNDS, stay strong, and stand for your ideals. We can make...a difference..."

The rest of the recording is silence.


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## Tun Kai Poh (Feb 5, 2022)

*Drifting, Part 4*

Tabitha sighs, "Very well then. Arrange for a full investigation and report. Then prepare an appropriate burial service for them as appropriate for their origins. Full honors and record the ceremony to be distributed to kin and colleagues as per their last wishes. I have three more letters to write." She turns and walks heavily out of the hangar.

It is only a few days later that Vera finds her alone looking morosely out the observation gallery. "I find myself going over the incidents with the James I over and over," she mutters gloomily to her NHP second. "This isn't something I trained for and I keep wondering if I could have handled it better. If there had been some way to help those on board that ship. If I had ordered closer inspections earlier."

"I wonder a lot if Caspian could do a better job of this - if perhaps I had pushed Bannon harder..." She puts her hands in her pockets and kicks idly at the steel floor, "I guess the best I can do is try to honor their sacrifice by trying to avert a war but that won't stop the killing. Not for a while."

A moment of silence, "Sorry to load this on you but I had to get it off my chest rather than try to drown out the anxiety with paperwork."

"Tabitha, there is no point in second-guessing. The situation is far too complex even for the most advanced minds to calculate the risks of further intervention. The Purview fleet still outnumber us and there are many angry crews over there who would see us dead. I value your compassion and care for those people not under your command, but I think you did your best considering the circumstances."

Vera audibly sighs, and then adds: "And put all thought of Caspian handling such negotiations out of your head. He's a killer, and taking life is what he's truly good at."

Next: What the killer was doing


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## Tun Kai Poh (Feb 8, 2022)

*Rebuild, Part 1*

"I suppose you're right," Tabitha says, straightening herself up, "There's nothing I can do to change the past. Only the future," She adjusts her cap, "Thanks for listening and for your candid words, Vera. I really appreciate all you do for us." 

"I should get back to work now. Hopefully Caspian can get his ship back as well before he and Ki rub each other raw."

Bernd chimes a pre-meeting reminder for Caspian in his quarters, although it's hardly necessary. How could he possibly miss this?

The holographic display comes on, and a blinking icon indicates a live Omninet connection to the inbound Union Navy Auxiliary battlegroup.

Chief Kharchana Avksentieva appears before Caspian, a sturdy pillar of a veteran engineer with lines on her rugged face. "Captain Var. Thank you for taking this meeting. I know we're still a few days away, but I've received the full damage assessment of the Richard Wagner from your NHP and I'd like to go over the salvage and repair plan with you.

She sips from a mug of dark coffee and smirks. "It will be a bit of a tricky job to rig her for nearlight flight. You certainly put her through her paces."

"That we did," Caspian cannot resist a smug smile, remembering the carnage wrought on the Purview fleet, "And she will be put through many more paces if things keep going as they are," He leans in "So. What is the plan?"


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## Tun Kai Poh (Feb 8, 2022)

*Rebuild, Part 2*

Avksentieva raises her eyebrows. "The Vice-Admiral gave me two jobs. First, we're going to get her driveworthy. The Chinua Achebe has the biggest mobile dock of any Navy Auxiliary ship, so we're well-prepared to do the repairs. Then, we'll be in stasis for a few months on the long ride back to Beachhead Station. That's where we'll rebuild her bow and re-arm her with some new spinal guns that haven't been overclocked to Hell and back. I and my team will be transferring off the Chinua Achebe on special assignment for the duration of the rebuild."

She sends Caspian a comprehensive list of stores and parts made available for the Wagner's rebuild at Beachhead. "The Vice-Admiral is sparing no expense. Whatever systems and components you need. And your officers will have their pick of newly-arrived replacements to fill out the crew. So, do you want to weaponize some more asteroids or did you have something else in mind?"

Caspian shakes his head, "Not asteroids. Not anymore - spectacular in their results but questionable in their utility," he starts working his datapad. "My officers and I have run some numbers and I believe that the rebuild will give us the opportunity to outfit the Wagner with the new Aurora stealth shrouding in place of the Sandstorm. We might even be able to squeeze a little more power from the reactors to allow us to strip out the old Razorbacks and replace them with the necessary narrowband omnitransmitter arrays and legionspace nodes to provide us with a little more direct fleet support,"

He runs through the list of equipment parts checking off the extensive list of replacements needed.

_Caspian's flagship, the Richard Wagner, is being salvaged and will earn the Phoenix Legacy._



> Richard Wagner: - Legacy: Phoenix
> This ship gains 2 points that can be only spent on weapons or upgrades. When destroyed, this ship is always salvageable regardless of how much damage it took, though the crew may not fare as well.




_Caspian's player: "Removing the Sandstorm from the Wagner and replacing it with a Aurora Stealth Shroud. A little better for keeping her alive instead of the kind of death ride of the battlecruisers that Sandstorm is. With the +2 points from the Phoenix legacy, replace the useless Razorbacks with a Legionspace Schism to provide long-range ECM support for Battlegroup Eland."

Meanwhile, Tabitha is awarded the Gallantry Cross, a medal given for "honorable conduct befitting the finest traditions of naval service."_



> Tabitha Saint-Germaine: - Gallantry Cross
> When a player with this commendation rolls 9 or less when performing an uptime action (excluding PLOT A COURSE), they may perform a second, different uptime action. They must still accept the consequences of the first roll.




Next: Changing of stations


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## Tun Kai Poh (Feb 9, 2022)

*2nd Crisis Response Group, Updated*

*Battlegroup Splinter (22 points)*

Flagship: UNS-BB Richard Wagner (16)
26 HP, 13 Defense, 1d6+2 Interdiction
Phoenix, Meritorious Service Bar

Hull - FKS Calendula Class Battlecruiser (7)
Superheavy Weapon - Spinal Petajoule Kinetic (2)
Superheavy Weapon - Spinal Petajoule Kinetic (2)
Primary Weapon - Legionspace Schism (2)
System - Aurora Stealth Shrouding (3)
System - Veteran Crews (0)

UNS-LS Björn Járnsiđa (6)
14 HP, 12 Defense

Hull - HA Turenne Class Frigate (4)
Auxiliary Weapon - Harbinger Confidence Lasers (1)
Auxiliary Weapon - Harbinger Confidence Lasers (1)
System - Predict/Overlay Shield Projector (0)

*Battlegroup Eland (20 points)*

Flagship: UNS-BB Nikolai Bukharin (11)
31 HP, 5 Overshield, 12 Defense, 1d6+2 Interdiction
Gallantry Cross, Indomitable

Hull - GMS Thoreau Class Battleship (7)
Superheavy Weapon - 3x3 Block Short-Spool Cannons (2)
Primary Weapon - Heavy Kinetic Batteries (1)
Primary Weapon - Gemini Laser Array (1)
Auxiliary Weapon - Flyswatter Missiles (0)
Auxiliary Weapon - Flyswatter Missiles (0)
System - Bulwark Redundancies (0)

UNS-CV Shamokin Rising (9)
16 HP, 12 Defense

Hull - IPS-N Masauwu Class Heavy Carrier-Frame (6) with built-in discount for Wings/Escorts (-3)
Wing - Fighter Wing (1), 5 HP
Wing - Fighter Wing (1), 5 HP
Escort - Destroyer Escort (2), 8 HP
Escort - Destroyer Escort (2), 8 HP


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## Tun Kai Poh (Feb 12, 2022)

*Station Change, Part 1*

"Very good, sir," says Chief Avksentieva. "Your request for parts has been pre-cleared on Beachhead Station. I'll prepare a salvage plan for my team, and we'll see you in a few short days."

Indeed, it is a few short days later when the vast bulk of the UNS-BB Chinua Achebe, an Eiland-Class Command Carrier, drops out of nearlight together with its trio of frigate escorts. Commander Mizuki of the Achebe sends his greetings to Tabitha and, as a formality, requests permission to enter formation with the fleet.

"Glad to see backup arrive," quips Captain Meade to the other captains on the fleet channel. "Although I'll wager they're just as happy that we saved them from having to fight the Purvies themselves."

Avksentieva's repair crews waste no time, flocking in repair skiffs around the hulk of the Wagner, cutting and welding and making the ship ready to be brought alongside the Achebe's repair dock.

Not long after, Strike Captain Bannon signals the Bukharin to indicate the 2nd Expeditionary Fleet's readiness to depart. "Line Commander Saint-Germaine, the Arminius has completed drive testing and our fleet is about to get underway. We're about an hour behind schedule, but we'll finally be out of your hands."

Bannon lifts her head just a bit, her eyes hooded as she gazes at Tabitha, gauging her. "Till next we meet, yes?"


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## Tun Kai Poh (Feb 15, 2022)

*Station Change, Part 2*

"Perhaps," Tabitha responds with a small salute and slight nod of acknowledgement, "And hopefully under better circumstances."

Around her the bridge crew of the Bukharin watch silently and expressionless as the Purview fleet readies to leave. There have been rumors, Tabitha knows, but most of it has been subsumed by news from outside, of the growing conflict around them. Most of the talk has been about the work being done on the Wagner.

As soon as she's ready, it will be the Union Fleet's turn to sail into danger.

"Pity we couldn't put more holes in her," Captain Ki mutters at the sensor trace of the departing Arminius, "She'll be back in full fighting trim soon enough."

The subline and flight commanders are all gathered on one of the Shamokin's comms networks just chattering idly with each other as the various fleets sort themselves out. The talk has been mostly about the latest news out of Lighthouse Station and the intensifying conflict.

"They won't be showing their faces around the Shore anytime soon," Lieutenant Vau chimes in, "They've a ways to go to refit and replace their losses." 

"Pretty sure they have enough support vessels around the Shore to get at most of those ships into shape if they wanted to," Evans grumbles. "How much the bet that we'll run into at least one of them again when we go after the Rex? I heard their Strike Captain is a personal friend."

"Well then we'll just have to punch her ticket again," Ki yawns.

"The Mercs took a pounding from them though," Vau says, "Next time we'll be the ones in the firing line."

"Keep on thinking those happy thoughts, Lieutenant," Evans comments sourly.

Next: Beachhead


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## Tun Kai Poh (Feb 16, 2022)

*Station Change, Part 3*

"And we've got the training and teambuilding exercises for our replacements scheduled in another 72 hours," Chief van Ghent reports, flipping through the last few sections of his deck. "The appropriate systems training modules are still being uploaded and it will be at least a day before we can begin running training sims for our new loadout," he continues, casting a sidelong glance at the pale, haggard face of CGO Bryant. She's only been conscious for the last five days and her arm is still immobilized but their Captain is chomping at the bit and not known for his latitude.

Caspian nods expressionlessly, checking off an extensive list of procedures. With the refitting of the Wagner in full swing, he's been slowly working his crew back up to readiness in preparation for the day they finally return to their ship. A ping on his datapad indicates the Purview fleet's imminent departure. A grunt of annoyance. The 2nd Expeditionary Fleet is already filed away in his mind. His entire focus is on preparing for the next battle to come.

True to her word, Avksentieva's teams work quickly, and in just three days, the hulk of the Wagner is made nearlight-capable once more.

"I wouldn't recommend putting anything living on board while she flies, but the COMP/CON I've installed will keep her on course and in formation with the rest of the fleet," the engineer explains. "We can set out as soon as your fleet is ready."

The journey to Beachhead Station takes about a month, giving Caspian's scattered crew plenty of time to train and prepare on board the Bukharin and the Shamokin Rising. Normally, such a journey would be spent in stasis, but for a crew that has just gone through a traumatic battle, it makes sense to give them time to process and recover.

Nine months pass in realtime. During that time, the situation in the Dawnline Shore continues to develop. Dramatically.

Next: Controlled burn


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## Tun Kai Poh (Feb 22, 2022)

*Station Change, Part 4*

As 5019U turns to 5020U, a hand-picked strike force of Union warships explodes out of nearlight within the defensive sphere of DS1 Harrison's World, the Armory's industrial center in the Shore. The UNS-BB Blyde River Canyon slashes through the Armory's Planetwatch battlegroups, unleashing hell upon the massive, largely automated factory complex known as the Maquinera, where 50% of the Armory's chassis production facilities are located. The kinetic bombardment reduces the Maquinera into a pock-marked glass landscape, glowing brightly in the night. Thousands die on the ground, including civilians living at the edge of the complex. For this daring strike, the Navy pays a heavy price. The Blyde River Canyon and much of its fleet are destroyed in the battle. Only a handful of Union ships escape.

When the 2nd Crisis Group arrives at the Blink-1 gate station, the Dawnline Shore is boiling with war. Battlegroup Thunder hails Tabitha's flagship and welcomes them to Beachhead Station. At this moment, another Union battlegroup is already transiting through the blink gate. A Murie-Class battleship, an Amazon-Class carrier, and a pair of frigates. Fresh blades to the churn.

Battlegroups Eland and Splinter are given docking berths along one of the stack of toroid sections of the massive Blink-1 facility, well out of the way of the arriving reinforcements.

"Eventful times, sir," reports Bernd to Caspian as he forwards summaries of the recent action at Harrison's World. "I'll let you catch up and I'll inform you once the Wagner's refit has begun."


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## Tun Kai Poh (Feb 24, 2022)

*Station Change, Part 5*

Caspian nods in acknowledgement and turns to the pile of summaries, reviewing after-action reports and news articles. Tabitha won't like this, he thinks, taking a sip of his coffee, the commander of Battlegroup Eland has always been an idealist and seems to take the Union's official peacekeeping mission to heart. Caspian himself is under no such illusions of what would need to be done to secure the Shore. He reviews each report closely, studying them for insights on the Purview's tactics. The various news pieces he tosses aside - he has little use for uninformed civilian opinions.

A chime goes off. CGO Bryant's face pops up - she looks a lot better than before; the past few months have done wonders for her recovery - as she goes over the latest set of drills. His crew will be ready he sees. The majority of them have already put the trauma of the Wagner's destruction behind them and the few more seriously affected are well on the road to recovery.

His hand dances along the datapad. Perhaps he should see if he can acquire combat sim data on the attack on Harrison's World. For now he turns his eyes to the latest fleet announcements on Unions actions, losing himself again in the swirl of data flowing in.

On the bridge of the Bukharin, Tabitha St. Germaine is quietly reviewing the same set of information regarding Union's deployments and intentions with concern. The escalation was unexpected and unwelcome to her mind. She makes a note to arrange a meeting with Vice Admiral Gentle to discuss these developments. For now, she puts down the datapad and leaves the almost empty bridge. The crew of the Bukharin have mostly gone on-station to for some "shore" time along with most of the members of Battlegroup Eland. 

She hopes that Ki isn't getting up to anything.

She pauses a moment and pings Caspian. Her fellow Captain's stern face flickers to life. "Yes, Line Commander? Is there anything you need?" Tabitha shakes her head slightly, "No, Captain Var. I just wish to remind you to ensure you and your crew take this opportunity to get some shore time. You've been working them hard, Caspian. They deserve some leave."

"Sweat saves blood, Line Commander," Caspian responds curtly, "But I accede. No point burning them out before battle. I will ensure that everyone gets properly rotated out."

"That includes you, Caspian," Tabitha says gently but firmly, "You've been working yourself up to a fever pitch waiting for the Wagner to come online to the point you haven't actually gotten much rest. You're coming with me." Caspian sighs.

"And I assume that's an order? Fine. If it makes you feel better we can head over to Beachhead Station once I've dismissed the crew."

Next: House of Glass


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## Tun Kai Poh (Feb 28, 2022)

*Through a Glass Darkly, Part 1*

Half an hour later, the doors of the transit car open at the Magnolia Gardens platform, one of the main population hubs on Toroid 1 of the station. Caspian, Tabitha and scores of other disembarking military personnel join the flow of foot traffic along the wide concourse, which is flanked by flower beds and small trees: magnolias, myrtle, dogwood.

Even in wartime, the street is busy with traders, would-be colonists, off-duty cosmonauts and local residents. Caspian and Tabitha can see a cluster of travellers in colourful Karrakin garb just up ahead, all stopped to listen to the latest news of refugees fleeing fighting on New Madrassa.

"Sir, it may interest you to know that Captain Ki is entering an informal contest at Hellenic Stadium tonight," chirps Vera over personal comms. "Some fighter pilots from Battlegroup Griffon heard about her silver medal in zero-G polo, and have challenged her and her crew to a match. It's become a point of honour, and it seems many crew from across the fleet will be coming to watch."

Tabitha and Caspian both sigh audibly at the news, "This is going to escalate isn't it?" Caspain remarks sardonically. 

"Probably. I'm just going to let Elliot handle it. She's technically his problem before she becomes my problem." Tabitha says as she stops by a street vendor and gets herself some meat skewers. She isn't fussy about the kind of meat - anything beyond the regular synthmeat available on the Bukharin. She passes one over to Caspian who accepts it politely. They walk in silence for a bit, heading towards a designer coffee bar. Caspian hasn't had a good coffee in... well, he's not sure but it has been a while. He finds he's rather looking forward to a good mug.


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## Tun Kai Poh (Mar 2, 2022)

*Through a Glass Darkly, Part 2*

_The GM calls for a perception roll on a d20. The roll: 10. Success._

It seemed like a coincidence that the same shifty old woman was going their way from the transit platform, but after two junctions and a short flight of stairs, it becomes clear that the woman is following them.

Then, at the next open square, where lodging-house balconies look down on open-air cafes, the woman falls back, and a workman appears in her place. Caspian's pretty sure he saw the workman at Magnolia Gardens when they first arrived on the transit platform.

They're being tailed, by a team of at least two.


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## Tun Kai Poh (Mar 9, 2022)

*Through a Glass Darkly, Part 3*

"Friends of yours?" he chuckles nonchalantly as he informs Tabitha of their tail. She responds with a smile that doesn't quite reach her eyes. "Not that I'm aware of."

The two of them keep walking, chatting as normally as possible while discussing their options beneath their breath. Caspian pauses a moment to ping his datapad inviting CSO Richards to meet them outside the coffee bar - while also picking a route with a lot of sharp corners to walk.

Then they set off. A few turns here and there and then one sharp turn and a pause as they wait to see if either of their tails wanders within arm's reach.

_Caspian's going to try to see if he can fake the tail out and grab one for interrogation. The player adds Caspian's Cool trait to see how well the officers can fool the tails into thinking they don't suspect a thing. Roll: 11+5._

The jumpsuit-clad workman doubles his pace to keep up with his targets as they wind through the narrow lanes of the shopping district.

As he steps around the corner, he sees Tabitha up ahead in the next plaza. He rushes forward for a better look, but the other officer is nowhere in sight -

And then Caspian seizes him from behind, grabbing both arms.

"Ah!" The man struggles just a bit before going still. "C-captain, I...I can explain...my employer, she wanted to meet with you...she's an important noble in the House of Glass..."


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## Tun Kai Poh (Mar 14, 2022)

*Through a Glass Darkly, Part 4*

"Outside of standard diplomatic channels?" Caspian arcs an eyebrow. "Let me warn you - Line Commander St. Germaine doesn't appreciate backroom deals even when she's being polite about it." He carefully releases the man, "And she has been very firm about Union's neutrality in the conflict." 

The Captain of the Richard Wagner eyes the man coldly, "So who is your employer and why is she sending her people to trail us?" His communicator beeps softly as Richards meets up with Tabitha just a short distance away.

"My employer is Lady Mabika of the House of Glass. She wanted to locate you and the Line Commander so she could deliver a private message, without going through the Federal Karrakin government. It pertains directly to your recent actions in battle."

There's a low buzzing of a vibrating comms unit in his shirt. "That's her. She will be on the way."


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## Tun Kai Poh (Mar 23, 2022)

*Through a Glass Darkly, Part 5*

Caspian continues to eye the man coldly, "I assume she has a place in mind?"

"Who?" Tabitha interjects, as she and CSO Richards show up with a pair of the Wagner's security detail in tow - Lieutenant Asad glares at the "workman" with a gimlet eye but says nothing.

"Lady Mabika, House of Glass apparently," Caspian replies, and fills Tabitha in on what he's been told. She looks doubtfully at the man and at Caspian. "A private message regarding our actions against the Purview? And she's here to speak with us personally?" 

"Apparently," 

Tabitha cocks her head, "Well we don't want to be impolite and almost certainly don't want to be huddling about in an alleyway. Unless the good Lady has a different idea, let's find a private room over at the Alem Bunna so Caspian can get his coffee fix while we're at it."

"I guess we're on duty again," Lieutenant Asad mutters beneath his breath.

The Alem Bunna is one of the more popular coffee bars on the station, and the main lounge is already bustling by the time the Union officers arrive, their captive in tow. Various travellers and locals are too engrossed in conversation to notice the newcomers.

A subaltern host pulls aside the heavy curtain to the private room. "This way, please." As the officers take their seats, holographic menus pop up, offering an enticing range of drinks.

But it doesn't take long before a finely dressed noblewoman arrives, accompanied by two bodyguards dressed in ceremonial Karrakin armour, as well as a handmaid.

"Line Commander, Captain. I am Melusine Mabika of the House of Glass. Forgive the subterfuge - I simply wished to meet you away from diplomatic and military decorum." She curtsies and seats herself, while her entourage remains standing at her side.

"I come bearing a message from my grandfather, Lord Elevated Grundin, who serves on the board of the Janus Combine." At this, Richards exchanges a glance with his captain. _The Janus Combine - manufacturer of the Cogent Mind warships!_

Mabika continues. "Lord Grundin wishes to convey his deepest apologies to you for the mistaken attack by the Cogent Mind ships outside Lighthouse Station. He feels personally responsible for the deaths of your crew, as it was he who oversaw the programming of the Minds in question..."





_The House of Glass by Tom Parkinson-Morgan_


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## Tun Kai Poh (Apr 5, 2022)

*Time And Time And Time Again*

"It was unfortunate, but conflict has always been a series of tragedies. Our duty is simply to try to mitigate the worst of them," Tabitha nods, "We appreciate the sentiment, regardless. What were your ships doing in the area anyway? And what sort of protocols were they operating under to engage so aggressively? WHY were they engaging so aggressively?"

Caspian sips his coffee in silence, his cold blue eyes watching Mabika intently.

"This is a complicated matter," Mabika replies. She chooses her next words slowly and deliberately. "What I am about to tell you is intended for your confidence only, and cannot leave this room. The ships were deployed from DS11 Gloria to rendezvous with the Shirline at Lighthouse Station, to serve as as an escort. However, while en route, they experienced...anticausal phenomena. From what transmissions we received before their destruction, they had somehow become caught in a closed timelike curve associated with a Free Company mech carried on board, a HORUS LICH frame with limited temporal distortion abilities. We are still trying to discover at which point the mech joined the fleet, and how it came to have orders from Baronic Unified Command originating from the year 5021. Lord Grundin can only surmise that whatever happened, effect preceded cause."

Tabitha remembers, with sudden clarity, the bizarre transmission from the Eternal Cosmonaut just before it self-destructed: <TABITHA, IT WILL BE AN HONOUR. UNTIL OUR NEXT WALTZ.>




_HORUS Lich by Tom Parkinson-Morgan_

As the noblewoman continues to converse with Tabitha and Caspian, re-iterating the need to keep this information confidential, Caspian senses Mabika's motives and priorities. _She could be bought if she believed she could gain an edge for her beloved Baronies...even if it went outside of the normal chain of command._


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