Rise of the Remorhaz Society

[sachmo]

Bardron Campaign Begins

Aboard RSS Tarus, Rear Admiral Shiro Sakazawa and Commodore Gordon Lu were finalizing the details of the assault on Bardron system.
“I going to leave you here with a substantial fleet, Gordon. Zezzis is the key to the entire flank of the Society. If the Ukra-Tal discover that we are here, I need a substantial force to stop them, and I have a feeling Brennan and I are going to be busy in Bardron for a few months.”
Gordon took a bite of his sandwich. He really wanted to be part of the final assault on the Rage, but he wasn’t the type to complain. He used eating to cover his displeasure. Sakazawa proved to be more observant than that, however.
“Gordon, I know you want to be there for the Last big push. I want you there. The reality is that you will do more good here. You are my best tactical officer, so you get the job.”
Lu put his sandwich back on the plate and smiled at his commanding officer.
“I can’t fool you for a second, Shiro. I understand your decision and of course would never question you, but I can’t say that I’m not a bit disappointed.”
Sakazawa leaned forward in his chair and rested his chin on his hands.
“I trust you more than anyone else with this responsibility, Gordon.”
Lu nodded. “Thank you, sir. I won’t let you down.”
Sakazawa held his gaze for a moment, then nodded.
“Just so you don’t get bored while I’m gone, I’ve got a few requests for you to carry out while you’re holding the fort.”
Lu took out his data unit and began jotting down notes as his commander filled him in on his objectives. Sakazawa wanted the system beyond Vendrin scouted as soon as possible. Intelligence suspected that the system was Ukra-Tal, but the only way to find out was to send a ship there. The most important mission was to hold the system at all costs. For the task, his fleet consisted of the following ships:
3 Nemesis E Class Frigates:
RSS Gallant
RSS Hyperion
RSS Apollo
2 Glory C Class Destroyers
RSS Faith
RSS Honor
Lu transferred his flag from RSS Apollo to RSS Faith and began drawing up plans to defend Zezzis.

A few days later, Strike Fleet Hellcat moved into Bardron and began the assault on the Last of the Rage systems. The first two planets in range were the moons of Bardron IV. The defense of these moons was quite formidable. Scanners picked up missile and anti-missile batteries on the surfaces of both moons, and a belt of six defense satellites as well.
Sakazawa moved a Nemesis class frigate into maximum missile range and opened fire on Bardron IV A. The Rage returned fire with a massive missile salvo. This opened the planet up for the rest of the Remorhaz fleet to move in and engage with guns as the Nemesis retreated beyond Rage missile range. The guns from the Remorhaz ships knocked out two missile batteries. The Rage fired their remaining missiles, and two were able to break through the Remorhaz point defenses. They exploded against the shields of RSS Tarus, but otherwise did no damage. The Rage were able to fire one Last salvo before their batteries were silenced. All of these missiles were destroyed. Bardron IV A was no longer a threat.
Bardron IV B was equipped with fewer missile batteries than its sister moon, and so was quickly dispatched by the Remorhaz fleet, along with the defense satellites. However, as the 2nd Space Marine Brigade was preparing to drop onto Bardron IV A, it was discovered that the entire inventory of combat vacc suits had been left back on Tarnor. The absence of combat vacc suits meant that the troops would not be able to fight outside of the Blazers, and so would be unable to capture the moons. Furious, Rear Admiral Sakazawa ordered the planets blockaded and sent Mongoose back to Tarnor to pick the suits up. It was not exactly the beginning to the campaign that he had hoped for.

“Intercept in five minutes, Commander,” the navigation officer called out.
“Thank you, helm.” Commander Mitchell Sprull stared at the display before him as the symbols representing his ship and the Romulan light cruiser converged. He felt fear rising in his stomach as the moved toward each other. There were so many unknowns, and they were out here by themselves. If the Romulans outgunned them, they would receive no help.
Mitchell looked up. “Weps, I want all weapons up and ready to fire. XO, sound general quarters.”
His crew acknowledged his orders. He ran an engineering status check and saw everything in the green.
“One minute, Commander,” the navigation officer chimed.
Let’s just get this over with, Mitchell thought.
“Commander! The Romulan is reversing course!”
Mitchell looked at the display again, and saw the acceleration of the Romulan cruiser die as he fired his engines to kill his forward momentum.
“Helm, match his maneuver and recalculate intercept plot! I don’t want him getting past us!”
“Aye, aye, Commander!” the helm officer responded.
Mitchell began running computations of his own, until he noticed the numbers next to the Romulan ship on his display change.
“Incredible!” was all he could mutter. The Romulan ship had changed course and accelerated far faster than his own ship could hope to match.
“Commander, we can’t match his turn. We going to miss him,” the helm officer called out, and the navigation officer concurred.
“Damn!” Mitchell cried out.
“Sorry sir. I didn’t see it coming,” the nav officer apologized.
“It’s not your fault at all, Lieutenant Briggs. We didn’t know what their ships were capable of, but we sure do now, don’t we?” Mitchell smiled.
“Helm, bring us into a pursuit course as soon as possible,” he ordered. If the Romulan was going to run, at least Barban would be on him if he stopped.
For the next twelve hours, the Romulan continued to accelerate away from the Remorhaz ship, back toward the Koltan-Hollifax wormhole. Eventually Mitchell broke off the pursuit and allowed the Romulan to escape through the wormhole. He sent all of the intelligence that they had gathered back to Remorhaz for analysis by naval intelligence. It looked like the Romulans had an edge in speed and maneuverability over the Remorhaz ships. Mitchell had to wonder what other advantages that the Romulans would enjoy when they finally met in combat.