1003 hours, 20 November 4007
As the massive battle fleets of the Duranium Legion and the Republic of Belaire continued to close with one another, Captain Absolus Criasus set about issuing orders for the coming battle. On one hand, he could be certain that his opponents were armed with both light missiles and a variety of laser weapons, the latter selection limited to less than 200,000 km in range as recently confirmed by the salvage operations in Adamantine. On the other hand, three of the Belaire warship classes arrayed against First Fleet carried unknown weapon loadouts, most prominently the formidable Kirov-class battlecruisers. Summing this up, the conclusion facing Captain Criasus was that he simply did not have enough intelligence to form a proper plan for the battle ahead. While he had initially intended to make a reconnaissance-in-force to probe the enemy defenses, the fact that the Belaire had chosen the same moment to mount a full-bore charge towards the jump point would force his hand prematurely. Considering all of this, Captain Criasus determined that falling back to tried and true tactics would serve as well as any course of action, thus ordering First Fleet to close to within 450,000 km of the Belaire battle fleet with the intention as before of exhausting the Belaire missile stocks before closing in to engage with beam and railgun batteries.
First Fleet
Captain Absolus Criasus commanding aboard CL Deadly Poison
Cruiser Squadron 1: Denouement, Devastator, Dissolution, Grand Cross, 2x R-56, 1x AR-56
Cruiser Squadron 3: Deadly Poison, Domination, Double Edge, Garrote, 3x R-56
Destroyer Squadron 1: Chainsaw, Char, Charon, Furious
Destroyer Squadron 3 (attached): Catharsis, Centaur, Crushing Blow, Final Blow
Destroyer Squadron 4 (attached): Champion, Covenanter, Cry, Ye Wicked, Final Judgment
Destroyer Squadron 5: Calamitous, Caliban, Creeping Death, Flayer
Frigate Squadron 4: Harrier, Hellfire
Totaling 275,000 tons displacement with 8,456 crew complement
Reserve Forces
Second Fleet, Cruiser Squadron 2: Dauntless, Defenestrator, Disruptor, Gothic, 2x R-56, 1x AR-56
Second Fleet Scouting Force, Frigate Squadron 2: Bat Country, Battery, Blastwave, Executor
Totaling 95,000 tons displacement with 2,822 crew complement
Republic of Belaire Battle Fleet 2
Designation and commander unknown
4x Kirov class Battlecruiser
3x Kiev class Cruiser
3x Sovremenny class Cruiser
3x Slava class Escort Cruiser
4x Osa class Destroyer Escort
1x Skory class Destroyer Escort
Totaling 265,000 tons displacement with unknown crew complement
As the gap between the fleets had closed to under 16 million km, at 1225 the Belaire battle fleet demonstrated a new combat tactic heretofore unknown to the Duranium Legion, in other words turning tail and running away. While certainly proud to have intimidated his opponents to such a degree, Captain Criasus was nevertheless disconcerted at this latest development in Belaire military science and harbored some suspicion of a trap being set. Hoping to counteract any potential trap, the Second Fleet scouting force consisting of Frigate Squadron 2 was ordered to pursue and trail the Belaire fleet at a distance of 42 million km, ensuring that the Belaire would be kept comfortably within active range as First Fleet closed in as well as allowing the long-range arrays of the frigates to detect any trap well before the Belaire or First Fleet would come too close for comfort. In any case, whether there was a trap or not the Belaire could not possibly hope to outrun the Legion warships, and for the next three hours a thrilling stern chase commenced.
Finally, at 1505 as First Fleet closed to under 450,000 km from the Belaire battle fleet, alarms began sounding on ships throughout the fleet as an incredible twenty-five missile salvos were detected. Of these, twelve salvos totaling sixty light missiles had been launched from the Slavas as anticipated, while thirteen salvos totaling eighty-two heavier missiles, displacing around 10 tons and traveling at 21,200 km/s, had been launched from the four Kirovs and the Skory class, the latter of which was shortly reclassified as a missile destroyer. Fortunately, the outdated propulsion technology of these missiles led the fire control computers aboard Deadly Poison to inform Captain Criasus that the four destroyer squadrons of First Fleet could mass just enough volume of fire to destroy the entire volley of missiles. However, as the margin for error was quite thin the Captain ordered both cruiser squadrons to contribute as much to the point defense effort as their slow-firing weapon batteries would permit.
The stern chase reaches a climax at 1505 as the Belaire battle fleet opens fire with all missile tubes. While Cruiser Squadrons 1 and 3 were diverted to assist with the point defense efforts, the Hellfire-class frigates were ordered to still hold their fire, to avoid giving away useful tactical information before the Belaire could discover that information through armor-enabled intelligence operations.
Fortunately for First Fleet, the Belaire rapidly demonstrated once more that they were not considered as the galaxy’s preeminent tacticians for good reason, as the lack of time-on-target battery tactics used by the Belaire gunners ensured that each type of missile would be dealt with separately. This was indeed the case, as the Legion gunners accurately shot down every missile from the first volley in the space of ten seconds. However, there would be no respite as a second wave of light missiles was already arriving on the heels of the first, thus the point defense action devolved from a series of coordinated volleys to a chaotic swirl of continual fire punctuated with brief moments of calm. In an example of what those unfamiliar with battle would describe as irony, these brief moments of calm proved the worst moments of the battle for the gunners of First Fleet, as these moments often portended the simultaneous arrival of both missile types in a full 25-salvo storm. The first of these instances occurred thirty-five seconds after the first missile launches had been detected and, despite causing Captain Criasus to briefly experience what according to shipboard vital sign monitoring was a Navy-record spike in blood pressure, was handily dispatched with only two-thirds of the Charybdis-class destroyers even needing to fire. In the aftermath of this, Captain Criasus briefly considered ordering the cruisers to cease fire, but ultimately decided against this as the crews could always use the gunnery practice and the reverberations from the 152 mm weapons batteries firing repeatedly were judged to be excellent for crew morale.
Aside from blood pressure spikes which gradually decreased in magnitude, the pursuit continued in much the same manner, with the Belaire frantically firing every missile they could to evade pursuit while the expert gunners of the Legion shot down every one with minimal effort - aside from the periodic instances when both types of missiles arrived simultaneously, at which points slightly more effort was expended. Seven minutes after the Belaire bombardment had commenced, Legion sensor technicians reported that the nineteenth volley of larger missiles showed significantly fewer launches from both the Kirovs and the Skory, indicating that both classes of ships had likely exhausted their magazines. Curiously, this coincided with a sudden course change by the Belaire battle fleet ten seconds later, which Captain Criasus assessed to most likely be an attempt to take evasive action. Thirty seconds later, the Belaire were confirmed to have run out of 10-ton missiles as no additional salvos had been launched. After this point, the pursuit continued, now with only the consistent rhythm of light missile salvos arriving every ten seconds. With the enemy capabilities so reduced, Captain Criasus finally ordered the cruiser squadrons to stand down, if only to save wear and tear on the 152 mm gun barrels.
Progress of the battle by 1510, at which time the Belaire battle fleet executed a course change which may have been an attempt to undertake evasive maneuvers, but did little to change the overall complexion of the engagement.
It took First Fleet another seven minutes to shoot down every last missile the Belaire battle fleet could fire, at by 1517 the full seventy-one volleys carried by each Slava-class escort cruiser had been expended. By this time, Frigate Squadron 2 had closed to 42 million km as ordered, and could assure Captain Criasus that no additional Belaire vessels were lying in wait anywhere within 41 million km of the Belaire fleet being pursued. Secure in this knowledge, Captain Criasus ordered First Fleet to begin the next phase of the battle, closing to the extreme range of the Hellfire-class frigates in order to conduct the first operational demonstration of their exotic new weapons.
Extended view of the battle zone at 1518, showing the relative position of and sensor coverage provided by the Frigate Squadron 2. The vector between First Fleet and the Belaire force relative to the position of Frigate Squadron 2 shows the evasive course change enacted by the Belaire.
As First Fleet closed to just over 180,000 km, judged to be outside the range of all Belaire beam weapons save the heaviest lasers of the Sovremenny class, three blasts from those heavy lasers lanced out from the Belaire battle group, missing Deadly Poison by a considerable margin. Unfortunately, holding the range precisely proved more difficult than anticipated, and First Fleet accidentally closed to 178,000 km allowing the Sovremennys to fire a full barrage of medium laser beams, scoring two hits on the armor of Deadly Poison. It took only a few more seconds for the fire control systems aboard Hellfire and Harrier to find their targets, and at 1520 the two frigates fired their PEL-4 neon beam cannons for the first time in operational conditions. The results were mixed; on one hand, only two hits were scored, both by Hellfire, due to the extreme range and insufficient fire controls; on the other hand, both hits struck the Sovremenny for full damage despite the extreme range, easily outperforming the lackluster lasers of the Belaire fleet. On the whole, compared to running a gauntlet of massed laser fire while conducting a stern chase, Captain Criasus judged these initial results to be adequate for the purpose at hand.
More concerning to Captain Criasus was the inability of his fleet to maintain the ordered minimum distance, with the range slipping to 162,000 km as the Sovremennys fired their heavy lasers again - fortunately, to no effect. Given this, the Captain revised his previous orders so that First Fleet would nominally hold position at 192,000 km. While this was the maximum range of the fire controls aboard the Hellfire-class frigates, Captain Criasus was content to allow his frigates to fire at the intervals when the fleet accidentally dropped the range, preferring to ensure a small buffer for the helm officers of First Fleet to do their own jobs in relative safety. The next volley from the Hellfires put this order to question, as all twelve shots from the beam cannons missed by several kilometers.
Further putting this new order to question, First Fleet once again creeped closer to their quarry, once again crossing the extreme range of the Sovremennys, which despite the distance managed to land a glancing blow on the armor of Hellfire. Clearly, the Belaire commanders had identified the new threat and given it the highest targeting priority. Perhaps more frustratingly, First Fleet managed to withdraw back to 192,000 km just before the Hellfires fired their third volley, and at such an extreme range it was not even possible for a hit to be scored. Clearly, a new tactic was necessary, and it fell to Captain Criasus to devise it. After briefly consulting with his bridge officers as well as Commander Acheron Tartarus, the senior commander among the destroyer officers, Captain Criasus gave the order to reduce speed to 3,500 km/s. This would make First Fleet somewhat easier targets for the Belaire heavy lasers, but would make it easier for the Legion helm officers to maintain the specified minimum distance and avoid the mass of medium lasers - so long as the Belaire did not catch on to this new tactic too quickly and start varying their own speeds to manipulate the range.
As First Fleet again closed the range, more cautiously this time, the Hellfires and Sovremennys continued to fire their long-ranged weapons at each other to minimal effect. Finally, as she closed under 181,500 km, Harrier scored a trio of hits along the armor belt of her target. As First Fleet continued to barely overtake the Belaire vessels, Captain Criasus ordered a second speed reduction to match the Belaire exactly, at 3,398 km/s, hoping this would prevent his ships from slipping into Belaire medium laser range once again. This seemed to work well, as First Fleet held the range just under 180,500 km while Harrier scored another hit on the targeted Sovremenny. While First Fleet had yet to penetrate the armor of any ship in the Belaire fleet, it seemed apparent that the bold new Hellfire would have an outsized impact in favor of the Legion.
The tense gunnery duel continued for some time, with particle beams of the two Hellfires slowly wearing through the armor of the lead Sovremenny, while the heavy lasers of the Belaire lacked both range and volume of fire to effectively reply in kind, only able to land occasional glancing blows on the armor of Hellfire. Finally, after two hundred twenty-five long seconds Harrier scored a trio of hits including one which penetrated the armor of the Sovremenny. Elated, the gunnery crews of both frigates pressed the attack with vigor, scoring several more armor hits before Harrier succeeded in scoring a second penetration two minutes and fifteen seconds later. Compared to the rapid pace of the previous engagement in which the railgun batteries had played the decisive role, the drawn-out tension of this gunnery duel was not a welcome change of pace for the frayed nerves of the First Fleet ship crews. Hellfire finally scored a penetrating hit of her own only forty-five seconds later, the increasing pace of internal damage being dealt to the Belaire beam cruiser indicating that its armor had been worn through quite thoroughly. Further proof of this was found when Hellfire evened the score against her sister ship on the very next volley with a fourth penetration. The rate of penetrations continued, with nearly every hit by this point causing the lead Sovremenny to stream even more atmosphere, and the two Hellfires entered into an unspoken competition to land the first visibly critical hit on their prey.
Finally, eight minutes and fifteen seconds after the beam duel had begun, a beam cannon blast from Hellfire excoriated the port engine of the lead Sovremenny, causing it to drop to three-quarter speed and fall out of formation with the rest of the Belaire fleet. While cheers went up from the crew of Hellfire, this was a critical moment and Captain Criasus knew it. The Sovremenny had taken heavy damage by this stage, but he had no way of knowing how many of its guns, if any, remained intact to threaten the fragile Hellfires. With great urgency, the Captain barked an order for First Fleet to slow down immediately to match the speed of the wounded vessel, momentarily allowing the rest of the Belaire battle fleet to open the range. As if to confirm the wisdom of his order, the damaged cruiser shot back at First Fleet with its heavy laser, making the point that it was still well-armed - if not entirely dangerous as once again it had missed completely.
The next volley from Harrier saw another engine shot out from the enemy cruiser, dropping it to half speed which First Fleet again matched immediately. The next few volleys had little apparent effect, although sensors indicated a mix of hits on the remaining armor as well as internal compartments of the Sovremenny. At 1530, however, disaster struck: despite having received to that point only six hits on her armor, Hellfire was hit by a laser blast which inexplicably managed to penetrate through one of two existing holes in her armor and take out her starboard engine, dropping her to half maximum speed. While this would not be immediately fatal to Hellfire, notably as the crippled Sovremenny was itself limited to half its own maximum speed which Hellfire could easily match, she would not be able to keep up with the rest of First Fleet when they resumed the pursuit.
Graphic representation (actual armor scheme remains classified to this day) of the damage done to the armor of Hellfire immediately prior to the shooting-out of her starboard engine at 1530. The incredible shot placement of the Belaire heavy laser gunners even at long range led many in the Legion high command to suspect an idiosyncratic flaw in the armor scheme of the Hellfire class. However, extensive post-battle analysis could find no better explanation for the impressive result achieved by the Belaire gunners besides incredibly good luck.
With this shocking development the continuation of the ongoing gunnery duel became tactically untenable, as with only one combat-capable frigate remaining in-theater it was deemed probable that Harrier would suffer a similar fate before the remaining pair of Sovremennys could be eliminated. The question now facing Captain Criasus was whether or not the entire pursuit operation should be called off. Fortunately, for the first time in this battle the Captain would have ample time to consider his options, as the wounded Sovremenny would have to be eliminated in any case before the rest of First Fleet could resume their full-speed chase. This pursuit, at least, continued unabated, and forty seconds after the critical hit to Hellfire the pair of frigates exacted their revenge, scoring an incredible five penetrating hits out of twelve shots in the volley at extreme range and dropping the speed of their crippled foe to zero. Despite its crippled state, the Sovremenny showed no signs of degradation in its gunnery abilities, landing yet another hit on the wounded Hellfire - though fortunately this hit only glanced off of her armor albeit dangerously near to the penetration in her starboard stern. The exchange of long-range fire continued for several minutes, with Hellfire suffering another hit on her armor but no further internal damage, until finally, fifteen seconds after 1534, the heavy laser aboard the Sovremenny was finally silenced. Incredibly, the Belaire cruiser was still intact despite the damage suffered.
By this point, the rest of the Belaire fleet had managed to retreat more than 1.1 million km from First Fleet and showed no signs of slowing down. Captain Criasus therefore ordered Frigate Squadron 4 to be detached from First Fleet; the two frigates would finish off the Sovremenny before retreating to the jump point for resupply and internal repair work. The remainder of FIrst Fleet, the Captain judged, would be more than sufficient to eliminate the Belaire battle group which was now deprived of its entire missile complement. While some losses would be taken due to the lasers on the remaining two Sovremennys as well as the four Osas escorting the fleet, the opportunity to eliminate another 245,000 tons of Belaire warships for a fraction of that in losses was far too good an opportunity for First Fleet to pass up. After issuing orders to briefly detour around the crippled Belaire beam cruiser, on the assumption that it still had enough medium lasers operational to make several holes in the armor of a passing destroyer, Captain Criasus ordered the bulk of First Fleet to proceed ahead at full speed.
Fleet positions at 1534, immediately prior to the detachment of Frigate Squadron 4 from First Fleet. Indicated on the map are Captain Criasus’ orders issued to the bulk of First Fleet to evade the crippled Sovremenny and resume pursuit of the main Belaire battle group.
Finally, at 1537 and a full three minutes after First Fleet had detached the frigate squadron to pursue the rest of the Belaire battle fleet, Hellfire landed two final shots along the keel of the disabled Sovremenny, finally destroying it as the Belaire cruiser lost all structural integrity and began to disintegrate in a storm of plasma fires and electrical arcs. It had taken the two frigates thirty-two minutes to get the better of the Sovremenny in a protracted gunnery duel, and in the process both ships had been rendered, if not combat-incapable, certainly not battle-ready. The status of Hellfire was the more obvious quandary, as her destroyed engine would take significant time and engineering work to repair, however Harrier was scarcely better off as she had exhausted most of her maintenance stores to keep her weapons operational and was down to only 12% of her rated supply capacity. Thus, after briefly stopping to collect prisoners from the Sovremenny life pods, the two frigates set their course to the Adamantine jump point to resupply and conduct the needed repairs. In spite of the condition of Hellfire’s armor both frigates would need to be kept on station for some months yet until reinforcements could be commissioned and deployed to Kuiper 79.
Further afield, the battle continued as First Fleet moved to close in on the fleeing Belaire fleet. Just before the shipboard clocks ticked over to 1546, a pair of heavy laser shots narrowly missed Deadly Poison, indicating that battle had once again been joined. Captain Criasus wasted no time in ordering First Fleet to close to nearly minimum range at full speed, though he elected to maintain 35,000 km of distance between First Fleet and the opposition until the armament of the Kiev class could be determined. Unfortunately, while First Fleet was more than quick enough to close the distance it would take a minute and a half to close to the ordered range, although the cruisers would be able to open fire well before the range had been closed. Emphasizing this point, the two remaining Sovremennys opened fire on Deadly Poison with their medium lasers as First Fleet crossed the 180,000 km range, landing four glancing hits on her armor. The next Belaire volley went identically, with both heavy lasers missing badly while the medium laser batteries scored another four hits on Deadly Poison, with First Fleet closing only 24,000 km of range in the space between volleys. The next volley proceeded similarly, with the only difference being a hit landed by one of the heavy lasers, while the following volley saw both heavy lasers miss while seven medium laser blasts grazed the armor of Deadly Poison. By this stage, the armor integrity of Deadly Poison was rated at 87%, but having seen the absurd good luck of the Legion gunners displayed against Hellfire Captain Criasus had understandably developed yet another acute case of hypertension.
The next volley from the Belaire displayed a curious change of tactics, albeit a good one from the perspective of Captain Criasus’ blood pressure, as the Sovremennys attacked the destroyer Charon with their heavy lasers and scored two hits with no penetrations. By this time the Legion cruisers had reached the edge of their own maximum range and opened fire on both Sovremennys, scoring several dozen low-damage hits across the armor belts of both vessels. At this, the Belaire fleet once again changed course, heading towards First Fleet at an oblique angle, simultaneously firing laser batteries aboard both the Sovremennys and the Osas and scoring sixteen hits on Charon including three penetrations which knocked a quarter of her gun batteries offline. Seeing the change in Belaire tactics, First Fleet came about and began to pull back to maintain the 35,000 km range as ordered.
The Belaire abruptly shifted their tactics at 1547, seemingly aiming to close with First Fleet to bring the laser batteries of the four Osa-class destroyer escorts to bear. However, this tactic allowed First Fleet to close the range quite rapidly, allowing Captain Criasus to transform the battle from a series of volleys at range into a swirling melee in which the Legion’s railguns held the advantage.
Seeing this change in tactics, Captain Criasus decided to take the initiative, wishing for First Fleet to be the party creating a surprise for once. As the 152 mm batteries of the cruisers finished reloading, the Captain ordered First Fleet to close to under 30,000 km, allowing the destroyer squadrons to open fire on the pesky Osas simultaneously with the cruisers firing on the Sovremennys. This sudden reversal proved devastating to the Belaire: both remaining Sovremennys were blown to scrap by the Legion cruiser squadrons, suffering nearly three dozen internal hits each before crumbling apart with Double Edge and Dissolution each claiming a kill, while the Osas were torn asunder by the cumulative effect of six hundred fifty 102 mm projectile impacts, with two Osas destroyed outright and the remaining pair severely maimed including one which suffered a devastating engine explosion. Both surviving Osas quickly fell out of formation with the fleet they had been escorting. Noting that no fire had been taken from the trio of Kievs, Captain Criasus ordered his ships to maintain the range under 30,000 km, matching speed with the Belaire ships. Unfortunately, while brilliant his maneuver had come at a cost, as Charon had suffered heavy damage including the loss of both engines, all but two of her 102 mm railguns, and some 60% of her armor belt.
Fortunately for Charon, her sitting duck status would not prove to be fatal as the remaining two Osas were handily dispatched by the Legion destroyers, along with the Skory-class missile destroyer. With the entire laser-armed section of the Belaire fleet lying in ruin, the remaining missile ships would be easy prey for First Fleet, however even at this juncture Captain Criasus issued precise orders: while the rest of the Belaire fleet would be destroyed, a single Kirov and Kiev apiece would be left intact for the moment, and later closed with to point blank range to determine if either possessed any extremely short-range armaments - if not, the Legion could close to point blank range against these vessels in the future with no concerns.
First Fleet set about these orders with great enthusiasm, knowing that victory was all but theirs. Within ten seconds, all three Slavas and two of the Kievs were nothing more than wreckage tumbling through space, joined in death by the first Kirov five seconds later and a second Kirov shortly after. The third Kirov was ripped apart by concentrated 152 mm battery fire with Deadly Poison adding yet another kill to her impressive resume, leaving as per the Captain’s orders a single Kirov and Kiev each. Rather less in accordance with the Captain’s orders, in the excitement of the chase First Fleet found themselves having accidentally closed to 15,000 km yet receiving no fire from the remaining pair of Belaire vessels. Thankful for his good fortune in this regard, Captain Criasus ordered First Fleet to close to point blank range with all guns firing, and five seconds later the battle was over. After forty-two minutes and a few spare seconds, the Duranium Legion had emerged victorious from this titanic battle after weathering a missile barrage, carrying out multiple stern chases, engaging in a thrilling gunnery duel, and at last closing for a final chaotic melee in which the mighty railgun batteries of the Legion had carried the day. Incredibly, despite teething problems with the new Hellfire-class beam frigates, First Fleet had managed to destroy 265,000 void tons of Belaire warships without the loss of a single Legion ship, easily the most dominant combat result in the admittedly short history of the Legion Navy.
Final state of the battlefield at 1547 on 20 November. The concluding melee combat action proceeded from right to left relative to the figure orientation. Note that DD Charon had been disabled early in the fight and was detached from First Fleet shortly after the initial collision between the two battle fleets.
Great victory or no, the celebrations on board the ships of First Fleet could be only momentary before once more orders had to be given. First Fleet itself would first move to cover the crippled Charon until her engineering crews could restore her engines, before proceeding back to the jump point to regroup. Frigate Squadron 2 would rejoin Destroyer Squadrons 3 and 4 and resume overwatch duties at their previous forward position. Finally, Gatekeeper 6 which was in-system would recover the Belaire life pods and transport the prisoners to secure Legion space for interrogation. While it would take them some time to reach the site, the Salvage Flotilla would certainly have their work cut out for them when they did arrive in-system.
For his exemplary command of First Fleet during the Second Battle of Kuiper 79, Captain Absolus Criasus received the Bronze Star of the Legion as well as personal assurance from the Emperor himself that he would be the next man in line for promotion to Lord Captain.
In any case, whatever the mechanical explanation, this will at a future date be resolved in-universe … somehow.
