Ersadt System, Six Days Previously
Once again Flight Officer Norin was on his routine scouting run of the Ersadt System, this time however, things were a little different. Looking around the system he couldn't help feeling that something was a little off. As he watched the numbers streaming across his he was filled with a sense of freezing dread. Where the hell are they? The entire armada that had jumped in a few days ago was gone, and you could bet that it wasn't back to the Igadzra core worlds. He'd need to report this to Sector HQ in Vastan as soon as possible.
High Orbit above Outpost Sekarim, Stror System
"Sir, if the scouts were right the Igadzra should arrive within the next few minutes. "
Captain Vehn Dorja nodded slightly in acknowledgment, but was otherwise silent. One of their routine patrols from Sirabor had come in two days ago with news that an Igadzra strike force with dozens of ships had launched from Ersadt and was on it's way to attack his forces. He studied the sensor reports that his scouts had brought for what had to be the hundredth time in the last few days. The Igadzra were going to bring in a force that he couldn't hope to compete with in sheer firepower. Ordinarily this would be a time to retreat, regroup, and counterattack in greater numbers, but he didn't have that option. The objective of the Igadzra attack was undoubtedly to destroy the new colony on Stror, and that would be a disaster of unimaginable magnitude.
He could see that his bridge crew was beginning to look a little bit restless. Mentally chastising himself for appearing so weak before his crew, Dorja turned to look at his first officer and smiled. "Damn Iggies, we've always said they'd be late to their own funeral... now their proving it." His first officer returned his grin, and he could hear the suppressed mirth among the rest of his bridge. They were good men, but times like these could try anyone's spirits. It was the responsibility of a good commander to forge the raw steel of their faith into the weapons of war.
Captain Dorja activated the Comm and keyed it to a systemwide channel. "This is Paladin Vehn Dorja, by this time you all know what we'll be up against when the Igadzra fleet arrives. They outnumber us, and we have no guarantee that anyone is coming to reinforce us. All we have is our faith, and from that, our courage. I tell you now that there will be no retreat from Stror, there will be no surrender. When the Igadzra come, they will meet more than Zidagar ships and Zidagar arms... they face our determination. In Zid's light we walk... and by his grace we will be victorious!"
With that he killed the Comm and signaled for the fleet to join formation and prepare for battle. It was only a few minutes after that when the Igadzra fleet entered the system. In an instant the bridge was alive with officers passing information and brining critical systems to full readiness.
"Sir, sensors report a total of Thirty Igazras and Ninety Aradas. I'm also getting reports that their Aradas are performing at a significantly higher standard than they have in the past. They must have undergone a significant upgrade."
Captain Dorja watched as the enemy fleet came into formation and began to accelerate. "Very well. Conn, signal the fleet to break orbit and assume battle formation."
"Aye, aye... fleet acknowledgment recieved sir."
"Then by all means Ensign, engage."
In a uniform body the Zidagar fleet broke orbit. Each Zidara launched it's two fighters, which immediately took up flanking positions on either side of their mother ships. Captain Dorja watched as the Igadzra fleet formed itself into a cohesive sphere, with each Igazra escorted by three Igaras around them. Cursing to himself he realized the immediate strength that the enemy formation gave them. This commander was no fool, and wasn't going to risk having the Zidagar draw his fleet into pieces, or let it be harassed and contained by the faster Zidaras. This was going to get bloody.
Working deftly on his tactical display, he drew up a counter formation and transmitted a new plan of battle over encrypted channels to the rest of the fleet. "Helmsman, put us in front of the rest of the fleet... I'm counting on you to make sure those SAEs don't turn us into a flaming wreck." Vehn returned the boy's confident grin, though he wasn't sure that he felt what he was expressing. Clearing his thoughts, Captain Dorja looked back at his strategic display. His Zidaras had formed into what was basically a pyramid, with it's point facing towards the center of the Igadzra sphere. Directly behind the Zidaras were six squadrons of twelve Zidagar fighters that had been pulling escort duty before news of the impending attack had arrived.
The Zidaras accelerated to full speed on a straight course for the center of the enemy fleet. As they came within SAE range the Igadzra began firing, and a huge barrage of missiles sped towards the Zidagar formation. Captain Dorja watched as at least a dozen SAE missiles spun closer and closer to his ship. Sweating, the young helmsman's response was to try and coax even more speed from the already fully powered engines. He took in the course of each of the missiles, and aimed the ship on a course along a line through the very center. At the last second, the SAEs directly in front of him and closing at insane speeds he juked the ship into a hard arc left, throwing the pursuing missiles into a pursuing course behind his Zidara. Behind them the remainder of the Zidaras were following suit. They weren't able to dodge every SAE, but the ships that were damaged managed to fall back into the later ranks of the formation. All of this had happend in the space of a few seconds, and by this time they were within moments of coming within phase weapon range. Vehn's Zidara aimed itself straight for the leading Igazra, and the helmsman began counting down the seconds until they came within primary weapons range of their target.
"Phase range in Three... Two... One... Mark!"
In that instant two things happend. First, two dispersal rockets streaked out from the Zidara's twin launchers. Second, the Igazra opened up with it's phase turrets, and at the same time the Zidara's own turrets, as well as their deadly phased beamer lashed out against each other's shields. In the next second the Zidara broke off at a course 135ş in reverse of it's previous heading. Immediately thereafter the two rockets found their target and the rest of the Zidagar fleet echoed the maneuver performed by Captain Dorja's flagship. In the space of the next few seconds each Zidara had launched it's rocket salvo, and was speeding away from the Igadzra fleet. About 75% of the fleet followed him to the left of the Igadzra fleet, while the others split and went 135ş to the right. Many of the Igazras had returned dispersal rocket fire, but the abrupt course change on part of the Zidaras meant that most escaped major damage. A few hadn't been so lucky, and combination SAE, rocket, and phase weapons turned the small ships into fiery slag. On orders from Captain Dorja the Zidaras had primarily targeted the smaller Igaras in the fore of the enemy formation with their rockets, and nearly a dozen of them had been destroyed by the massive barrage.
While the Zidaras had drawn most of the enemy initial fire with their frontal assault, it was the Zidagar fighters that would deal a majority of the damage to the Igadzra ships. The 90 fighters launched from the Zidaras split into squadrons and attacked the 6 Igazras surrounding the point ships, making a pass against one on the way in, and attacking another as they sped after their carriers. They were immediatly followed by the 72 independent fighters who concentrated their firepower on the most heavily damaged of the Igazras. The speed of their attack meant that most escaped unharmed, but a handful were destroyed when they were caught in the full fury of multiple Igadzra ships. It was a dangerous gambit that Captain Dorja had committed his forces too, but the bravery of his fighter pilots resulted in the death of three of the mighty Igazras.
By this time the Zidagar ships were being chased by several salvoes of SAEs, and their only hope was to keep moving. As soon as the two columns of Zidagar ships had put a bit of distance between the Igadzra sphere and themselves, they once again threw themselves into a hard arcing turn, this time back towards each flank of the enemy formation. At each flank the Zidaras repeated their earlier dispersal salvo tactic, destroying several more Aradas at cost of two of the most heavily damaged of the Zidaras. Following this united salvo, the two Zidagar formations pursued divergent strategies. On the left flank, where the largest Zidagar force was attacking, half of those Zidaras that had so far taken the most damage pulled out of the Igazra's range. The Zidaras in the group that were close to full strength, sixteen in total, closed in and attacked five Igazras on the periphery of the sphere's flank. As the Zidaras concentrated on their targets, nearly 100 fighters formed a sort of shifting perimeter in an attempt to keep the rest of the Igadzra fleet from concentrating their fire on the Zidaras. The success of this strategy depended on the actions of the ships on the right flank. With ten Zidaras and about 40 fighters they were doing their best to harass the Igadzra right flank and keep them from closing ranks to protect the ships being attacked on the other side.
Captain Dorja barely managed to stay in his command chair as his ship was rocked by an SAE hit. His strategic readout was flickering at this point as the generators struggled to keep up with the strain of the punishment they were taking. One thing was clear though... his fleet wasn't going to be able to keep this up much longer. At the moment the fighter screen and the harassing ships on the right flank were keeping the Iggies too busy to surround his ships and blow them all to hell. That success was only momentary, however, and it wouldn't last too long. For now they were holding their own, but as he watched one of the Zidaras was caught between two Igazras and their Igara escorts, destroying it in a matter of seconds. Nearby, another Zidara, it's shields failing and it's hull venting atmosphere, came around and accelerated full speed into a collision with an Igazra, destroying both ships. At the same time four other Zidaras converged on a different Igazra, and using concentrated fire from all four Phased Beamers, they completely destroyed it, losing one of their number.
With the superior numbers of the Igadzra it was only a matter of time before he would have to disengage his fleet and retreat back to the planet. Zid help them all when they followed him there... because he wouldn't have anywhere else to go.
Zidagar Fleet
32 Zidaras (13 Destroyed, 6 Heavily Damaged, 16 Moderatly Damaged, 10 Lightly Damaged)
104 Zidagar Fighters (58 Destroyed)
Igadzra Fleet
24 Igazras (6 Destroyed, 2 Moderatly Damaged, 13 Lightly Damaged)
63 Igaras (27 Destroyed, 14 Moderatly Damaged, 9 Lightly Damaged)
Zidagar Naval Forces
656 Zidaras
1270 Zidagar Fighters
Fleet Distribution
Zidagar - 56 Zidaras, 100 Zidagar Fighters
Vastan - 100 Zidaras, 280 Zidagar Fighters
Terapin - 90 Zidaras, 178 Zidagar Fighters
Plogok - 70 Zidaras, 150 Zidagar Fighters
Fluron - 40 Zidaras, 75 Zidagar Fighters
Qerid - 40 Zidaras, 115 Zidagar Fighters
Saffera - 60 Zidaras, 75 Zidagar Fighters
Twyus - 30 Zidaras, 75 Zidagar Fighters
Neeg - 25 Zidaras, 75 Zidagar Fighters
Pozdag - 30 Zidaras, 75 Zidagar Fighters
Stror - 45 Zidaras, 72 Zidagar Fighters
Inquisition Forces
Neradag - 70 Zidaras
Zidagar Research and Development
Stror Colonization Initiative --- 5/8 RTD --- A Task Force will be detached to the Stror System, there to immediately begin colonization of it's three habitable moons.
Once the industries and other facilities of the new colonies have been established they will produce another two (2) Zidaras per RTD. A military outpost will also be established for the maintenance of a continued Zidagar presence in the system.
Plasma Warhead Development ---5/6 RTD--- A highly advanced warhead that can inflict significantly greater damage against both shields and armor than current technology. Will be implemented in three new delivery systems tailored for different tactical situations.
Zidagar Carrier ---?? RTD--- Zidagar variant of the Crescent Warship designed to provide heavy fighter transport and support capabilities.
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Stand-Alone Generators ---5/5 RTD--- < Completed> A highly efficient stand alone Fusion generator that can perform a variety of high energy tasks. It's most immediate application will be to eliminate the Phased Beam's need to use a ship's fuel reserves effectively allowing for continued use of this weapon. The generator is hooked into the ship's main power grid however, so it can be used for other tasks such as temporarily providing boosts to shields or engines. Due to the strain placed on the generators, they can not perform two of these tasks simultaneously.
