Outer Belt Conflicts

The Conflict

Prelude

Tensions had been simmering between Ardenia and Weltkria for years at now... and, at this time, with eight hours of delay, the situation could only go one way - and that was pearshaped.

— Senior Fellow, LAK institute, Daniel Jones

It was a cold Feburary day, and with it, synchronized operations orders were sent to Weltkrian ships across space - execute operations at Zero Hour, August 11th, Weltkrian time. It was a simple gambit - communications, under ideal circumstances, would take hours to reach home, and it was the hope of Weltkrian commanders that the belt could be seized before a response from Ardenia could occur.
Preventing this from occuring was the Outer Space Conduct Treaty, and it was the full intent of the Weltkrians to follow this treaty - and, hours before the start of operations, specifically designed to give the Ardenians as little time to react as possible, the Weltkrian Embassy in Jezabine forwarded mail to the Ardenian Government - Weltkria had withdrawn from the OSCT, effective immediately, as of August 10th, 11:00 PM. Ardenian commanders knew what was happening, and had sent messages as soon as the treaty was torn up - alas, they would arrive far too late.

Deployment

The nexus of Ardenian C3I for the outer center was based on a single asteriod - it was assumed that war would not break out here - the OSCT guarenteed that, until it didn't. Enter a swarm of spacecraft, drones, and two plucky Gunships, taken from the reserve, going against impossible odds.

— Col. Johnston

Huatri-Naradal Langrage Point L5 was host to a key asteriod - JH-088, often reffered to as the "drink". It was the nexus of Ardenian command and control for the outer systems, carrying host to comms lasers - if the Weltkrians were able to destroy it, they would be able to ensure that the message never arrived, leaving Ardenian forces uncoordinated and seperate. Grypp 38 of National Army Space Command, consisting of a number of spaceships, would be dispatched to destroy the station - and after plenty of langrage transfers, they were mere hours away from the station itself... and with a easy target in sight, two LM-37 IGKVs detached from the massive scaffolding on the Kamaraden class, and sped towards the asteriod...

The Engagement

The hell?!? Contact, 8 lightseconds out! Incoming missiles, LM-37 type, setting up for intercept...

— Clatia Station

There is no stealth in space - and when the missiles screamed out of their pods, the response was immediate and electric. A pair of gunships - reservists, had been stationed at the asteriod for months, awaiting combat operations - and they were caught by suprise. As they screamed out of their berths, UV lasers powered up on full, fusion reactors roaring to life, radiators shining bright-red in the darkness of space, last-second intercept trajectories were found, collatted, and set. LM-37s were primitive - a fancy rock attached to the end of a fusion torch, accelerating to relativistic speeds before impact.
If they were not intercepted, the asteriod would be destroyed - and the spacers of Task Force 37 would not let that happen. Focus decoys detached from the cavernous holds of each ship as the EM spectrum, once silent, was pounded by megawatts of electronic noise. The sheer distance involved had given the defenders two hours to prepare - even as a trio of enemy ships burnt towards them, they had the Delta-V advantage. Macrons, sand fired at insane speeds, filled space as every vector was filled with a wave of fine particulate - and as a last resort, power flowed into the banks of the Slokia laser system, high-powered lasers swivelling towards their targets with a vengenance...
The missiles would scream into the engagement zone, sensors slagged and under fire, before their fuel reserves blew up from a well-placed laser shot...

SIG 12 VAMPIRES TGT ALLOC UNKNOWN PD ACTIVE RADAR ACTIVE 3 CONTACTS 8 LIGHTSECONDS AWAY MESSAGE END

The second wave came in force - this time, slightly more advanced missiles, toting a bomb-pumped laser. Counter EW came in force as missile decoys screamed away from their mothermissiles, making it far harder for friendly PD to determine targets. The Point-Defense of John Davis would flail wildly as all sorts of projectiles screamed away from the ship - eight missiles would be seduced by the long-launched active decoys, two would fall to desperate hail-mary salvoes of Counter Kill Vehicles, and two would plunge towards the John Davis. Wild fire of more missiles and more guns and more macrons would take out one more as a dazzling explosion filled scopes - until a bright light slammed into the ship, nearly vivisecting it as her fusion engines died.

JOHN DAVIS HEAVY DMG DUMPING MISSILES

Yet, the VLS pods were still live, and with her remaining crew screaming away from the ship, a datalink from the Freedom would order the firing of all remaining missiles - 36, at enemy contacts - more specifically, the three contacts responsible for the missile waves. Her captain watched with grit teeth as the fleet closed in a retrograde engagement - silently scratching off enemy contacts as massive balls on fire appeared on their imaging sensors with minutes of delay... and, at a close speed of 12km/s, fueled by the seven fusion engines on the Freedom, the PRS-37 Macron Accelerators would spool up and let out unquenching destruction on contacts as they screamed forward, meters away from each other - alarms screamed as more missiles screamed towards Freedom, as lasers spooled to life, a flying angel of red, violet and flame filling the sky as it erupted onto enemy sensors - a cloud of missiles screaming past as a decoy "popped" in the great void of space, missiles screaming into the distance as they were seduced.
Nothing less than the total destruction of the enemy fleet would be accepted. A distant siloship erupted in flames as her point-defense flailed wildy at the incoming wave of missiles - no use. 7 lightseconds out, arming time, 4 lasers pumped terajoules worth of power into the ship, leaving it nothing more than a derelict.
The three Kamaradens were the next target - and due to slower Weltkrian missiles, the Freedom weaved hard as dodged waves of enemy fire. One died due to a thousand cuts, radiators screaming off into space, nothing more than scrap... the other, got a hit off and cored the laser, only to be responded to by a crescendo of missiles, 8 kilometer out - damn, nukes, as sparkling explosions filled space for a matter of seconds than died down - one side, superheated metal, the engines slagged - combat ineffective, noted the AI, as the Freedom moved to the next target - and a furious barrage of red screamed out of the ship, slamming into radiators and turrets with a fury never seen before - the Weltkrians attempted to respond, but the muzzle velocity of their railguns was far, far, far, too slow for them to actually score a hit - and as escape pods popped out, the captain looked at the time.
6 Hours for the complete engagement. Over 45 lightminutes crossed - 5 minutes for retrograde.
5 minutes for three ships to be destroyed.
If Ardenia hadn't proved her superiority in all domains, this would be the it.

Outcome

Immense diplomatic backlash would occur on Galen itself as the Ardenians lodged heavy protest in the International Courts, sanctioning the Weltkrian Regime to complete hell. For a temporary, splitting, moment, Ardenian leaders were in process of declaring war - however, it was called of at the last minute, the very second when bombers would be ready to take off.

Aftermath

The skirmish would force a full review and purges within Weltkrian High Command, with Northern Regional Command officers replacing many who were purged. Doctrines would be revised, changed, and prepared for the next battle...

Included under Conflict

Weltkrian-Ardenian Cold War

Conflict Type

Skirmish

Battlefield Type

Space

Start Date

August 11th 2001 00:11

Ending Date

August 11th 2001 12:11

Conflict Result

Ardenian Victory

Location

Galen System

Belligerents

Task Force 37.1 Ardenian Space Forces

Grypp 39 National Army Space Command

Strength

2x Freedom Class Gunship
ARS John Davis
ARS Freedom
1x Edward Wright Class Mobile Station
ARS Edward Wright

3x Kamaraden Class Gunship
WPS Kamaraden
WPS Inikant
WPS Nalakoli
3x Manicant Class Missile Carrier
WPS Manicant
WPS Oriskany
WPS Zeushammer

Casualties

ARS John Davis heavily damaged, 47 spacers lost
12 Interplanetary Guided Kill Vehicles consumed
48 Counter Guided Kill Vehicles consumed

WPS Kamaraden heavily damaged, 82 spacers lost
WPS Inikant, Nalakoli destroyed, 230 spacers lost
WPS Manicant destroyed, 120 spacers lost
WPS Oriskany, Zeushammer captured 48 Interplanetary Guided Kill Vehicles consumed
128 Short-Range Guided Kill Vehicles consumed

Objectives

Secure mining site 0-37 on asteriod JH-088 from Weltkrian Incursion
Ensure open trade routes for Ardenian Asteriod Miners

Destroy, interdict and disrupt Ardenian Operations within the outer belts