[Starhawk]

2415.8 The march continues
Admiral Babcock sat stiffly in his command chair as his fleet closed on Fornax I, it was a heavily defended world the most heavily defended his fleet had yet been asked to seize, 8 weapon platforms, 20 squads of enemy light infantry and an unknown number of militia.
HMS Hornet and the other cruisers of her division formed the vanguard of the fleet, while Redoubtable and the heavy cruiser division formed the second line behind the transport, the other cruisers fell into the flanking slots to ensure a full 365 degree defense perimeter around the troop transport.

As the fleet approached the world it’s surface guns tore space with shells the size of a fighter craft, most of the shots were aimed at the heavy cruisers and thankfully due to extreme range missed, but the next volley fired at Hornet and the other cruisers of the lead division, most of those shells missed as well but Hornet was damaged seriously enough to begin withdrawing from battle, her hull bled atmosphere, and a trail of wreckage followed behind her as she limped away.
The troopship was almost within drop range, once she landed her forces they could claim all eight platforms intact and not have to worry about leaving ships to guard their new conquest.
Unfortunately instead of picking a new targets the surface cannons opened fire on Hornet again, shell after shell tore into the battered wreck that had once been a proud cruiser until the structural integrity of the ship failed outright and shells tore clean through one end and out the other as the screamed in at near light speeds, one lucky shot struck home in what was left of the reactor core of the crippled cruiser and as containment failed a brilliant blue star was born. 2,100 Icaran spacers died as that star was born.,
Babcock clenched his fists in rage and sorrow as he watched the star fade and saw the wreckage that remained of a ship that had boasted a glorious service record.
The troopship reached dropship range at the same time the Last shell killed the cruiser, thousands of infantry and hundreds of armored vehicles cut through the atmosphere at speeds that were too fast to intercept by the planetary defense platforms.

Landing forces seized control over the most heavily defended target that Icara had ever faced, and they had done it in less then two weeks. The Phong governor of that world had relied too much on weapons platforms and when the ground forces of Icara landed the Phong ground forces were totally overwhelmed in a far from exciting battle, not a single Icaran Army trooper died in the battle.


[i]notes after the battle.
Two days after the battle Admiral Babcock dispatched Lenin to intercept a Phong Light cruiser that was headed towards the warp point to the Mavin Parsis system,
Captain Yu Lin Pe and Lenin are to be reasigned to Third Fleet as soon as Fornax system is secured
Her crew performed excellently in their kill of the enemy warship, and proceeded to the warp point with renewed vigor, Lenin scored their first ship to ship kill and suffered absolutely no damage in the process and not a single casualty had been sustained much to Admiral Babcock and Captain Yu's mutual relief after the tragic loss of His Majesty's Warship Hornet and her valiant crew.