Captain Herodius McMillan surveyed his fleet with pride. The crews had spend the last week removing every vestige of colour from their ships. All ships were jet black except for the cruisers that had been captured overnight in a surprise attack. Following the replacement of the senior officers and key NCOs the 3 cruisers were combat ready.
The flagship Invincibility's recon flyers had spotted the South Pacific Fleet at dawn. With the captured cruisers reinforcing his fleet Captain McMillan felt confident he could remove the immediate threat to the rebellion allowing it time to subvert more forces.
Captain McMillan's Renegage Black-Stealth-Fleet-of-Gunnery-Doom (680pts):
170 - Battleship Invincibility
180 - Lexington Cruisers x 3 (stealth cruisers)
180 - Lexington Cruisers x 3 (captured cruisers)
75 - Augusta Frigates x 3 (stealth frigates 1)
75 - Augusta Frigates x 3 (stealth frigates 2)
Ten tiny flyer tokens
Captain Barrington Secundum's South Pacific Fleet (690pts):
170 - Battleship Inglorious
220 - A-17 Bombers x 4
100 - Augusta Frigates x 4
100 - Augusta Frigates x 4
100 - Augusta Frigates x 4
Ten tiny flyer tokens
Stealth cruisers take a hit
Captain McMillan ordered his stealth cruisers forward but had little to shoot at except some frigates. One enemy frigate sustained minor damage. The Inglorious moved in front of the frigates to protect them and its main guns got 5 hits on a stealth cruiser. Shrapnel from the hits killed Lieutenant Yuslis who was in charge of the shield generator. He had been busy berating the crew for not polishing the knobs to a mirror shine. Warrant Officer Orsum took command of the generator and quickly got the crew prepared for further attacks.
Captain Secundum ordered his A-17s to engage the stealth cruisers. Poor formation flying blocked one bombers attack run. Exceptional work by WO Orsum's shield crew meant the torpedoes that were on target had no effect.
The stealth cruisers moved into medium range and fired a combined salvo against the Inglorious. Captain Secundus was chortling quietly to himself as he saw the cruisers approaching, already thinking about the carnage his heavy guns would reap as they rotated towards the smaller ships. He wasn't worried when the cruisers got off the first rounds confident in his armour and shields...
Heavy shells began crashing down onto the deck. Two shells penetrated the deck armour. One cut through the ship hitting the reactor core. Inglorious disappeared in a blinding Sturginium flare.
Determined to have their revenge the remaining South Pacfic fleet ships fired everything they had at the stealth cruisers.
Frigates inflict minor damage
Short range torpedo attack against damaged cruisers
Remnants of small flyer torpedo attack force visible, AA destroyed 3 of the 4 flyers.
Three short range torpedo salvos were fired at the cruisers. The first salvo missed its target, the second scored 5 hits but one was deflected by the shields causing no damage. The third salvo scored 8 hits. Orsum's shield crew were in excellent form by now and deflected 5 of the hits preventing any further damage to their critically damaged ship.
Having used most of their firepower ineffectively against 3 seemingly unsinkable cruisers the South Pacific fleet suffered the combined return fire of Invincibilty, 6 cruisers and 5 frigates. This gutted the South Pacific centre and the remaining ships fled.
Losses (not counting small flyers)
South Pacific Fleet
Battleship Inglorious
A-17 Bombers x 4
Augusta Frigates x 7
Stealth Fleet of Doom
Augusta Frigate x 1
Captain McMillan was satisified with the results of the battle. He made a note in his log. Big guns and shields = win. Bombers and rockets = fail.
