[Starhawk]

2405.8
HMS Victory and her squadron mate Tiger had finally managed to close the distance with the remaining Rebel starships, both sides vessels were pummeled to the point that they were barely combat capable and the four ships closed on one another like wounded animals.
“Sir Tiger reports she is in missile range, she is requesting permission to fire.” Rourke’s voice was quiet almost to the point of a whisper as he addressed his captain, he was still terrified of Park after he had snapped at the younger officer for what was probably just a precautionary action.
“Thank you Rourke, tell captain Anders she has permission to fire on the destroyer, we are going for the frigate since she’s closer.” Park said gently as he watched the distances close ever so slowly.

The crippled enemy destroyer did the unexpected as it turned about and began to withdraw from the field, the frigate however began closing, it’s two cannons searching for a target to kill. As she bore down on the larger Victory she fired both of her cannons and a single shell slammed headlong into the destroyer’s engineering section, reducing her to only one engine.
The frigate’s lucky shot did little good for it’s own life however, as Victory fired her own surviving cannons the shattered hull of the frigate stood no chance at sustaining such impacts and a brilliant flash signaled the end of the frigate and her crew.
As the missile volley from Tiger burned out and went ballistic far short of her mark and the destroyer continued to flee and was already too far out for the battered and maimed Icaran warships to follow and Park gave the order to let it go, knowing he would risk even more damage or even destruction if he pursued her further.
Icara’s Navy had scored an unbelievable victory, they had killed a light cruiser, 3 destroyers and a frigate with well over 3,000 Rebs perishing, but that victory had cost them dearly, out of 800 Icaran spacers involved in the battle 500 had died and another 100 were wounded, both destroyers too had been put out of action and it would take them months to reach the colony which had been set up during the very hours of their opening shots with the Alliance task force.
Captain Park did show Icara’s mercy however when he dispatched his search and rescue teams to pick up whatever alliance survivors they could without risking the survival of any Icaran navy personnel, however only three life pods had made it away from the wrecked alliance task force and with them only 12 Alliance survivors.

“Ms. Adair wake up……can you hear me? Liza can you hear me?” a voice unfamiliar to the young woman called out to her from the darkness and she shook her head gently, trying to arrange her senses as best she could. “Miss Adair wake up now!” the voice called out stronger and she tried to open her eyes but found that only her right would cooperate.
“I am Captain Dylan Park of the HMS Victory your in our sickbay I need you to wake up and talk to me.” His voice was kind and gentle but Adair was shocked and terrified as the realization hit, if she was on an Icaran warship that meant her squadron had been forced back or destroyed….a tear came out of her only working eye as she remembered the horrible look on Magill’s face when he first saw her injuries and she wondered just how horrible she did look.
“It’s alright Miss Adair, we are not going to harm you, however it is my duty to inform you that you are a prisoner of His Majesty Praetor Leonidas’ Royal Navy.” the voice was still kind and gentle but to Adair it may as well have been the devil speaking to her.
“Where is Admiral Magill?” she managed to squeak out through a badly bruised mouth as she slowly opened her eye, seeing a rather hansom young looking man standing over her, wearing the dark red tunic of the IRN officers.
“Miss Adair I’m afraid he didn’t make it, he died of his injuries shortly before our search and rescue people pulled you aboard, our medical team tried to save him but I’m afraid there was nothing they could do.” His apology sounded sincere but somehow Liza doubted he meant it, after all it was Magill who’s squadron destroyed the Goin colony and killed millions of Icaran citizens.
“I need to ask you a few questions miss Adair.” Park asked quietly and Adair settled herself in as best she could to not answer any questions that may reveal any of the few state secrets that she knew.

The questioning went on for hours before Adair was allowed to rest for the day, the next day the questions went on again, and the day after that and again after that for weeks, all the while her healing process went on and even she could not deny that the Icaran medical staff treated her with as much care as any of their own who had been injured during the battle, though she also noted that no one would let her see a mirror.

In the Fornax system a new messenger drone raced towards the warp point to brink back glorious news, that the second Phong base in the Fornax system had finally been eradicated by Brevet Commadore Ross and his Flag Captain Sandra Fowler. A new colony ship had already been launched from Handra base and was en-route to the ruined remains of the second base.

2406.3
Two Messenger drones arrived in the Icara system, one from either end of the Icaran Empire (such as it is) and both bore good news for all Icarans, the Neo-Star Empire who had been threatening the 6-11 and Awer systems had signed a peace treaty with Ambassador Franks informing him that they sought the better unity and peace of all human Star nations.
From the other end of the empire Handra sent a messenger drone to inform Praetor Leonidas that due to their massive losses in Fornax the Phong had requested an “equitable” trade and research alliance that would benefit Icara’s economy and allow the Phong government to save face in front of their people.

2406.4
In a horrible act of treachery the Neo-Star empire dispatched two squadrons of light cruisers, one into Awer and the other into 6-11 their orders were deadly and simple and they carried them out with a ferocity unmatched in the Icaran history books.
Awer colony, population 300 million was destroyed outright by 6 Neo-Star light cruisers, the colony’s plea of surrender was ignored even as the bombardment began and the colonists were still issuing their surrender.
6-11 met it’s death more defiantly but it met it’s death all the same, 5 light cruisers had destroyed the colony and all 120 million Icarans in residence died,
With no survivors from either world reports that came back were little more then rumors and speculation, the only confirmed information throughout the empire was that indeed both colonies had been destroyed by the ferocious Neo-Star fleet.

2406.5
A month after the destruction of 6-11 base HMS Warhawk and the new HMS Claw closed in on the single Neo-Star light cruiser that was patrolling the inner system.
“Captain Davidson, this is Captain Paris, we know that these bastards can chew us up if we get close, keep Claw at missile range only, I don’t want any more Icarans dying at the hands of that cruiser, understood?” Davidson’s grim face on the com panel nodded as he passed on the orders to his crew, both men knew all to well what had happened to Bounty and the first Claw at the hands of those devastating energy weapons and neither man wanted to give that cruiser the chance to do it again.
As the two destroyers closed in on the massive light cruiser they each fired off their missiles in rapid succession and within moments six missiles streaked across space towards the enemy warship, but as the Light cruiser’s point defense cannons came to life and thousands of shells sprayed the stars only a single missile died, the other five screaming on un-phased.
“Missiles closing Sir.” the tense voice of Gunnery officer Keon was hardly audible to Davidson as his eyes fixed on the holotank display as it showed 5 little yellow dots closing in on the red light code that represented the neo-star light cruiser.
Seconds later a brilliant flash lit the holotank as all five missiles reamed the hull of the enemy light cruiser, tearing out massive gouges of the hull, completely crippling her.
No mercy showed in the eyes of Davidson as he ordered his ship in for the kill, as his cannons tore the enemy ship apart Davidson felt nothing but joy at the deaths of those bastards who had destroyed two colonies and killed half a billion Icaran civilians for no reason and all that after signing the damned treaties!

2406.6-9
The Neo-Star Empire claimed it’s attacks on Awer and 6-11 colonies was justified as being a self preserving measure, and claimed that the governors of both worlds had been secretly planning an assault into Neo-Star space. After the loss of their light cruiser on patrol in 6-11 and the establishment of Mandow base on the former colony world in the same system the Neo-Star Empire realized they had been outmaneuvered by the Icarans and it this reason alone that most of the Icaran Lords believed the Neo-Star Empire resigned the peace treaty. However this time 6-11 would not be caught off guard and Warhawk squadron was formed with Warhawk and Claw as the first of four planned ships to be on station.

Liza Adair frowned openly as she watched the battered wreck of the sole surviving Alliance warship withdrawing back into alliance space, only a third of it’s crew still alive and throughout the system the colonials felt nothing but relief as both of the Icaran Warships present were still in port undergoing extensive repairs and re-manning.

2407.1-9
The battles against the Neo-Star Empire and Rebel Alliance had actually brought some good to the Icaran navy beyond battle experience.
University of Sparta had developed a new weapon that used phased polarons in concentrated beams to do devastating damage at medium range.
An odd result of the phased polaron research actually led to the development of the first shield generators which used the EMW power source that had been used on the original PPB prototypes to generate an energy barrier around a starship and protect the hull from direct damage.
Another breakthrough in the Icaran Bureau of ships R&D department led BuShips to believe they could design and build a larger warship based on the ones they had seen in both the Alliance and Neo-Star navies, the light cruiser and plans were underway immediately for the budgeting of projects to expound on that hull design and make an even larger warship with which Icara could ensure her naval dominance.