Orion Federation

Part Nine

In year 450 we once agin check the relative strengths of our respective militaries and find that while we are fielding 420 warships, the gas bags have 2,069 ships deployed for combat. While this is much better than the 3,000 + that we have seen in the past the total number of enemy ships facing us is still quite daunting.

Hoping to raise a large enough reserve to eventually deploy a strong offensive in the Waage system Admiral Greer holds onto his limited forces and begins repositioning his fleets to fit his new strategy.

In two battles, one in the Archird system and one in Merkent our overwhelmingly outnumbered garrisons run rather than die in battle with no positive results to show for their sacrifice. In two other battles, in Theta Indi and Wasat, our defenders are beaten. We also lose Theta Indi IV and Ibis IV to enemy bombardment.

The public mood is turning bleak as more and more news about military defeats begin to reach home. We are slowly losing the frontier and an entire sector of space where we were once powerful is slowly being ripped from our control. The next year is no better than 450. In this year we lose battles at the Fakar, Niru and Theta Indi systems and are once again saddened to learn that we have lost two more colonies. The colonies of Niru II and Theta Indi II are lost to enemy bombardment.

Then in 452, finally having the forces he needs to begin the new strategy Admiral Greer pulls 2 new armadas from reserve and assigns them to the Waage system. Having a storng enough force to attack, he immediately launches an attack on the Auarhciniala fleet in this system. The battle is very large and violent, but he succeeds in taking the gas bags by surprise. In the end the gas bags lose 10 armadas with 160 ships to our loss of 4 warships! A tremendous victory for our fleet!

News of the victory at Waage is received with great joy and excitement. The people now know that we are still fighting, and yet again we have proved that we have yet to lose a single major battle in this war. Their feeling are so jubilant at this, that they hardly notice that we lost another battle in the Theta Indi system and that Theta Indi I was destroyed by enemy bombardment.

In 453 the two opposing fleets in the Waage system meet for another violent and deadly battle. Once again Admiral Greer forces are victorious, and this time the losses are even more lopsided than last years. The gas bags once again lose 10 armadas totaling 160 ships, but this time our fleet lost only a single ship! Again, people celebrate the news. The huge gas bag fleet at Waage is being destroyed, and so far our losses have been almost non-existent.

When news arrives that we lost yet another battle on the frontier and that the colony of Whynil I was destroyed some people can see a frightening trend. Yes we are winning the major battles, but in this, the third gas bag war, we have yet to destroy or capture a single gas bag world while we have lost far too many of our own. Surely even our great Federation cannot continue to sustain these losses even when our core systems are seemingly safe.

With two years of seeing his new strategy beginning to bear fruit Admiral Greer orders a new evaluation of relative fleet strengths between our two warring nations. When the reports arrive he is surprised at what he finds. Our battle fleet has grown in strength from 420 warships to 455 while the gas bag fleet has grown to 2,179 warships.
He had expected the gas bag fleet to have grown a bit more than it did. Maybe, just maybe, we are beginning to wear them down. If we can wear them down, then perhaps we can find a way to turn the tide in this war.

Knowing that he must press his advantage in Waage, Greer pulls a new missile armada from reserve and assigns it to Waage just in time to fightin this year’s colossal battle. True to form, for the third year in a row a major battle takes place for the ultimate control of the Waage system. Like the past two years, our fleet scores yet another MAJOR victory as 10 more armadas of gas bag ships are destroyed, eliminating another 160 enemy ships from their roster. However, this year our losses are significantly higher than the past two years. This time, the gas bags managed to destroy 32 ships of the valiant defenders of Waage.

Along with the third victory at Waage, our forces engage the gas bag forces in the Merkent system, however we lose this battle and the colony of Merkent II is lost to enemy bombardment.

Scanning the Waage system to verify how many enemy ships remain in this system Admiral Greer sees that the gas bags have reinforced their fleet. With a savage grin on his face he also notices that they were unable to fully replace their earlier losses. Yes, he is wearing them down. Yes, this strategy could work. It will take a LONG time, and our losses will continue to mount, but this strategy can work.

Once again pushing his advantage he pulls everything he can from his dwindling reserves and assigns a new carrier pack to the Waage system for this years battle. If I can not keep our strength at a certain minimum, then this strategy will fail. If we continue to take losses like we did last year, then I will not be able to maintain the Waage fleet at fighting strength…

For the fourth year in a row the massive fleets of the Orion Federation and the Auarhciniala Empire engage in a massive battle in the Waage system. This year though, the battle is much more lopsided than every before. The gas bags lose yet another 10 armadas with 160 warships while our valiant defenders of Waage take no losses at all!

Sadly, even news of yet another great victory at Waage, news of two more deats comes in. Our forces were unable to defend the Indactyl and Muru systems. While we had a significant garrison at Muru, our three armadas were unable to stop the horde of gas bags ships. Muru II and Indactyl II are then lost to enemy bombardment.

This is a dark time in our history. We have destroyed so many enemy ships in the Waage system that contractors are fighting over the salvage rights to all of the debris that is starting to accumulate there. All told, the enemy have so far lost 700 war ships to our 37. With the debris of so many ships floating around, the salvage rights are worth a fortune!

In 456, the fifth year of the battle for control of Waage, the defenders of wage face a mere 64 enemy warships in battle. After a brief but vicious fight, the system is finally purged of the enemy and our forces summarily bomb their single colony in this system out of existence. Our forces have finally won the first strategic victory of the third gas bag war!

Celebrations of this great victory are held all across the Federation as people begin to have a feeling of hope. We have yet to lose a single major battle and we have finnaly defeated on of the enemy colonies. Now that we know what we have to do, all we have to do is repeat it! Even news of two other losses that year is not enough to dampen the spirits of our people. Niru II and Muru II on the frontier are both lost to enemy bombardments.

With the victory, President Winters calls a special meeting of her war council and Admiral Greer stands to present his grand strategy for their approval.

“Ladies and Gentlemen. After taking serous losses and finding our selves unable to sustain combat both at Joseki on the Frontier and Waage near our core we were forced to make a choice. The choice, no matter how painful was actually a simple one to make. Spread ourselves out to defend as best we can everything we have, or consolidate our forces and begin to take the offensive. The battles you saw in the Waage system are the culmination of that decision.”

“For the first time in all of our fighting against the Auarhciniala, we have succeeded in taking a heavily defended system from them. I would like to point out to you that the defenders of Waage succeeded in destroying 764 enemy warships with a loss of only 37 of their own. Ambassador Williams has informed me that the other nations of the galaxy have taken note of our victory here, and although they are not yet prepared to fight the Auarhciniala, they are a bit more willing to deal with us knowing that we can defend ourselves from them.”

Hearing this, Ambassaodr Willaims nods and then stands. “I should point out that several nations, the Techidi and Raas specifically have expressed, privately, a great deal of support for our efforts. The Raas are doing what they can to help us by trading technologies with us as well. Sure, they are getting more from these trades than we are, but a they get stronger, I am hopeful that we will gain a powerful ally in our fight against the gas bags.” With that, having added hat he could, he sits and allows the Admiral to continue.

“Now that Waage is secure, I am ordering the defenders of Waage to begin offensive operations and pruge the rest of our ‘near’ core systems of enemy colonies. As you know, the enemy still has four colonies near our core. Once the defenders are able to purge those colonies, they will be ordered to advance into the frontier to provide relief to our remaining colonies out there and begin the process of taking back the systems where we once held a solid presence.”

“I hope that I do not have to tell you that this strategy will take some time. As our fight in Waage has showed you, when they decide to stop and fight us, they are fully capable of slowing any advance we might make.”

“As I expect that the defenders of Waage will not require significant reinforcements for the next few years I hope to provide Joseki with enough reinforcements to allow them to begin attacking the massive enemy fleet facing them there. We will also be providing additional forces to the defenders of Tefnut. When their force is strong enough I will order them to advance on the Archid system, effectively extending our core without adding an additional border. This will also allow us to take another gas bag system containing three productive worlds form them.”

“I am afraid that until further developments occur, this is all I can give you about our future plans. Are there any questions?” For the next several hours President Alicine Winters and her war council debate Admiral Greer’s plan, and in the end it is accepted wholly and without modification. We will do what we can to take the war to the enemy, and hopefully we will continue to win all of our major battles.