Orion Federation

Part Thirteen

In 476 Admiral Greer is brought a surveillance report stating that a large number of gas bag armadas are en route to the Al Tarf system. Realizing that he is unable to replace his losses and maintain a proper defense he scrambles for other options to protect his beloved Federation. Finally he is forced to accept what had been the unacceptable. The 140 ships defending the Joseki system are needed elsewhere. Hating himself for abandoning the people of Joseki after fighting for them for so long, he orders the fleet there to disband.

There are four battles fought this year. The forward elements of the Auarhciniala fleet attack Al Tarf. They lose 98 warships to our 18. Another major victory for our forces, but once again Admiral Greer is reminded that he is not able to field a new full strength aramada every year. That and the fact that the gas bags could lose twenty battles this badly and still win the war do nothing to help brighten his mood.

After the space victory around Al Tarf, our armies successfully landed and captured the enemy colony of Al Tarf II. However, in the same year we lost battles in the following sytems: Narn, Joseki, and Girtab with the colonies of Joseki I and Girtab II being bombed out of existence.

Next Greer spots a report from Ambassador Williams, and hoping that this willl bring him better news than his scouts and spies are bringing him, he quickly opens and then reads the report.

Attention Admiral Greer;

I regret to inform you, and our president that my efforts to gain allies in our struggle have come to naught. The Inaro and Tunetha are still smarting from earlier wars with them and although they wish us well in our struggle they are unwilling at this time to engage in conflict. Both are trading technologies with us, but I am afraid that this will be the limit to their support.

You will be pleased to learn that although the Auarhciniala have placed tremendous pressure on their allies the Trilarians, the fish have seem the destruction of very large and powerful gas bag fleets by our forces an they are unwilling to engage us in battle at this time. However I would point out that if the war goes badly for us I would expect the fish to join with the gas bags in finishing us off.

While the crystals have been reduced to a mere two worlds in our war with them, they refuse to maintain a peace treaty with us and in no way will they ever beg9in trading with us in any manner shape or form. Fortunately, they do not have the strength to hurt us, and even the small garrison force in the Shippan system is more than enough to destroy anything that they will be able to send against us in the foreseeable future.

In summary, the Trilarians are allied with both of us, but seem to favor the gas bags. They crystals hate both of us, and are determined to fight us both. While the Raas and Inaro are both our allies and would prefer for us to prevail. However, even if both the Raas and Inaro joined us in the fight, the gas bags would still have more votes in the senate, and command a larger fleet than the three of us combined!

Finished with that report, Gree lets out a long sigh. Well, we needed miracles before, and they came through for us. Maybe we’ll get another miracle or two and find a way to turn this around.

In 477 realizing that he does not have to forces available to fight of the oncoming onslaught, Admiral Greer is forced to abandon the Al Tarf system, and after pulling 2-new armadas into the Ruchba system, the entire fleet at Al Tarf run to the fortress of Ruchba for a last stand. This year, we lose the colonies of Al Tarf I, Narn IV, and Joseki VI.

Although Admiral Greer can see the disturbing trend, he has some hope in the fact that he has a solid defense force stationed in Archird and a second Defense fleet on Ruchba sealing off the core from ANY attacks by hostile forces. That along with the fact that there are a large number of ships in the pipeline to relieve his forces in the coming years, he has reason to hope that he might be able to weather the oncoming assault.

In 478 there are antoher series of battles. A small gas bag force attacks Archird and is annihilated. A second larger and more powerful force attacks Ruchba, but all 60 of their ships are destroyed while Federation Forces lose 15 ships of the line. Durningthis year of fighting we also lose the colonies of Al Tarf II and Indactyl III.

The next two years find more fighting at Ruchba and Archid as is 479, 64 gas bag ships are thrown at us and all are lost, destroying 24 of our defenders in the process. In 480, 160 gas bag ships engage our fleet and once again we are victorious. All 160 gas bag ships are destroyed and we lose another 24 ships in return. Also, a force of 68 highly advanced gas bag ships attack Archird. Our defencers there are able to dispatch the invaders, but in the process we lose 42 ships! In one single year although we won both of the major battles, we have lost 66 nearly irreplaceable ships!

In 481, the ships that left Joseki are starting to become available and Greer immediately pulls 1 IF and 1 Carrier armada to Archird and 1 IF and 3 Carrier armadas to Ruchba. Thankfully, the gas bag assult this year is toned down with only a small force of 21 ships attacking in Archird. The gas bags lose all 21 ships destroying none of ours in the battle.

The gas bag armadas that did not fight in last years battle in Ruchba have now bypassed Ruchba and are moving on towards Archird from their rear.

With our fleets suffering severe losses even while they are winning their battles, the defenders of Archird are too weak to fight a major battle even with last years reinforcements. Seeing the danger, and again having a large number of ships available to him in his reserve, Greer orders an IF and 3 Carrier armadas into Archird to strneghten his defenses there.

Finally, hoping against hope, Admiral Greer checks the relative strengths of our two battle fleets. He is shocked and saddened at what he finds. While our Federation fields 356 ships, the gas bags have 2,317 ships at their command, even after losing 305 ships in the past four years! Now in 482 a large enemy fleet is positioned above Archird, and to our great disbelieve and joy, the enemy do not press the attack!

Our joy however is short lived as in 483 another major battle is fought in the Ruchba system. We successfully repulse the attack once again by destroying all ten armadas for a total of 160 ships, however we suffer a devastating loss of 67 of our own in the battle. Our fleet is still at battle strength, but only barely.

In 484 Greer assigns 1 IF and 1 SR armada to Ruchba to reinforce his fleet there before his entire defensive front can collapse. Yet another large battle is fought as 95 more gas bag ships attack Ruchba. Thankfully, we only lose 2 ships this year while destroying 95 of theirs.

Reviewing battle taps from the more recent fighting Greer can easily denote the newer and more powerful gas bag armadas vs. the older and less powerful/survivable armadas. Sadly, although we are quite good at killing the older armadas, it is painfully obvious that the fleets being sent against us have more and more of the stronger and more powerful armadas in them. Although our newer armadas have more and more of our newest and most advanced warships in them, our technical advantage is definitely eroding.