Fwurg

[Mercury]

The UDF RES 6 regrouped and moved to attempt to box in different sections of the enemy fleet. They managed to catch some of the Slave Rebellion Fleet 23, focussing on the boxes individually to help destroy them safely and quickly.

Meanwhile the UDF RIM 21 regrouped as well, attacking Slave Rebellion Fleet 23 with the UDF RES 6, trying to spread the fleet as thin as possible. The Slave Rebellion fleet outnumbered them, but not by a lot, and certainly not in fire power.

Together, the UDF RES 6 and UDF RIM 21 continued the fight against Slave Rebellion Fleet 23 which put up a mighty struggle, but appeared to be on the losing side for the moment.

((OOC: The UDF RES 6 offensive advantage action is approved. The UDF RIM 21 Direct Combat Action I was in doubt over, because the fighter assault is difficult since Slave Rebellion fleets are numerous and tend to have smaller ships, but I decided to approve it due to the boxing happening by the other fleet.

Together, the attack rating comes to 6/7/9, against defences 5/5/7, which results in 1 level of damage. This is the second level of damage on Slave Rebellion Fleet 23, resulting in a -1 penalty from now on.

The attack of Slave Rebellion Fleet 23 is 5/5/5 against UDF RIM 21 5/5/5, which means no rings are defeated and no significant damage is caused.))

The UDF RIM 7 fleet moved up close and personal with the Slave Rebellion Fleet 11, ramming into the Slave Rebellion formation. The fleet did manage to displace some of the capital ships, moving in close enough and pushing the enemy aside to reduce the chances of hitting Remunzian cities, but it did not move the fleets out of range of the cities, not by a long shot. Their formation was too densely packed for that.

The Hiocans joined in the battle as well, doing everything in their power to disrupt the enemy coordination - the Hiocan fighters, despite lacking in fire-power - were extremely effective in this, wrecking communications, disrupting coordination and using the chaos of the hammerhead charge to disrupt the enemy alignment.

((OOC: I believe the combined repositioning of the UDF RIM 7 and the ramming results in the removal of the Defensive Advantage Action, but will note that it is certainly not enough to put the cities out of harms way. However, it does remove the defensive advantage as planned.

I also want to comment Admiral Elaris for her logical and well found method of removing the other Defensive Advantage Action, which is hereby approved!

The combined attack of RIM 7 and the Hiocan fleet is 6/6/4 which is not enough to defeat the massive 7/7/7 defences of the Slave Rebellion Fleet 11))

[Slave Rebellion Admiral (mask of Mercury)]

Slave Rebellion AdmiralA single reply was sent to Admiral Giambastiani:

"Their blood is on your hands."

After that, communications were terminated.

[Mercury]

Round 4

Slave Rebellion Fleet 11 switched formations as their previous positions were disrupted by ramming and Hiocan insurgency, turning their broadsides towards the planet, specifically targetting towards the planets major population area's.

From space, the flashes of what would become mushroom clouds could be seen as nuclear weapons were detonated in the most densely populated area's. Millions of lives were wiped out in seconds, and no doubt many more would follow from the fires that these explosions would soon create in the Remunzian woodlands. And that wasn't considering the impact of radiation.

Slave Rebellion Fleet 23 pulled back to the planet, moving to cover the assault on the planet by their allies, and where necessary providing support fire, their bombers attacking the fleet attacking their allies while en-route to the planet.

Just as the bombs started hitting the population centers, new energy signatures became visible on the planets northern polar regions. This was odd as the polar regions weren't being targetted and in fact held no significant population centers. Soon though, sensor stations reported that the energy signals from the pole weren't going down towards the planet, but they were coming up from the planet.

A large volley of missile fire was launched from here towards space, targetting the Union Fleets, UDF RIM 7 in particular. The army forces on Remunzia had activated a new Planetary Defence Zone, which was now sending attacks towards the Union Fleets in orbit!

((Combat, round 4: Slave Rebellion Fleet 23, Attack UDF RIM 7, Direct Combat Action, +2 (Bombers targetting enemy fleet)
Attack: 4 / 6 / 4 - Standard Formation
Defence: 4 / 4 / 4 - Standard Formation

• -1/-1/-1 on Attack due to damage
• -1/-1/-1 on Defense due to damage

))

((Combat, round 4: Slave Rebellion Fleet 11, Non-Combat Action, bombing the planets population centers
Attack: 3 / 3 / 3 - Standard Formation
Defence: 7 / 7 / 7 - Standard Formation

• Defensive Advantage Action (coordinating defence and cycling ships) +1/+1/+1 Defence
• Not taking a combat action so attack rings do not actually apply

))

((Combat, round 4: Remunzia, Attacking UDF RIM 7
Attack: 6 / 2 / 2 - No formation (planet)
Defence: 8 / 8 / 8 - No formation (planet) ))

((OOC: The Slave Rebellion Armies on Remunzia have completed a Planetary Defense Zone, giving them +6 on (Outer Attack). The fact that you could not detect this being constructed is completely unfair, but a consequence of the Union no longer controlling Remunzia and the Slave Rebellion having extensive experience in constructing defenses in secret - its one of the reasons they keep getting the Hutt despite their lack of advanced systems.))

[Alexander Giambastiani]

((OOC: Admiral Giambastiani is intentionally not reporting the fact that Remunzia is being bombed back to Union. Since he currently has better things to do and does not want politicians to interfere at this moment. He reasons: Whats done is done. I expect the news to reach Union from other fleets or other channels, just with a short delay.))

With Slave Rebellion Fleet 23 suffering serious losses, the UDF RES 6 now turned towards the Slave Rebellion Fleet 11. The UDF RES 6 moved around the fleet that was attacking the planet and started firing at the backs of the enemy capital ships. Since these capital ships were facing the planet it was easier to fire on the weak spots in their back armor now.

((Combat, round 4: UDF RES 6, attack Slave Rebellion Fleet 11, Direct Combat Action, +2 (Capital ship fire on weak spots while they are focusing on attacking the planet.
Attack: 8 / 8 / 8 - Skirmish Formation
Defence: 4 / 5 / 5 - Skirmish Formation

• Union Intelligence Report +1/+1/+1 to attack
• Offensive Advantage +1/+1/+1 to attack (Boxing in section of the fleet)

))

With the UDF RIM 21 no longer being focused by an enemy fleet they now press there advantage. Noticing that the enemy fleet is moving towards the planet they start the chase. With the superior Union technology and the fact that the destroyers and cruisers are not waiting for the slower capital ships the UDF RIM 21 has no problem catching up with the Slave Rebellion Fleet 23. In fact they manage to push straight into the enemy line and attack them from up close.

((Combat, round 4: UDF RIM 21, attack Slave Rebellion Fleet 23, Offensive Advantage Action, Moving inside the Slave Rebellion formation and attacking from within.
Attack: 6 / 6 / 6 - Standard Formation
Defence: 5 / 5 / 5 - Standard Formation

• Union Intelligence Report +1/+1/+1 to attack
• Offensive Advantage Action +1/+1/+1 to attack (Flanking)

))

With the UDF RIM 7 suddenly being hammered from two sides the fleet is scrambling to maintain formation. The Fleet returns fire on the enemy fleet with all small ships. All capital ships in the UDF RIM 7 face their nose towards the planet where the missiles are coming from. Some small ships intentionally hide behind the capital ships. The capital ships slow down at their current position and route additional power from the engines and weapon systems to the forward shields. They not only boost the shield capacity significantly, they also widen the shield to provide more cover for the smaller ships.

((Combat, round 4: UDF RIM 7, Direct Combat Action, +2 (Facing the planet with all capital ships and rerouting power to the forward shields)
Attack: 6 / 6 / 4 - Barrage Formation
Defence: 7 / 5 / 5 - Standard Formation

• Union Intelligence Report +1/+1/+1 to attack
• Offensive Advantage Action +1/+1/+1 to attack (Flanking)
• Defensive Advantage Action +1/+1/+1 to defense (Using cover of moon)

))

[Alexander Giambastiani]

((Combat, round 4: UDF-CORE-14 "Acehtoo the Uniter" → Barrage Formation))

[Elaris]

((OOC: You said I removed the defense bonus so no coordinating defence and cycling ship for Slave Rebellion fleet 11. Joining in on same combat round count for better overview.))

The skirmish of the Hiocan has succeeded and the defense formation of the Slave Rebellion fleet has been disrupted. The rear fleet admiral is pleased with this result.

As the Slave Rebellion starts firing bomb to the planet the Hiocans immediately come in action to save the Remunzian population. The fighters and cruisers are shooting the incoming bombs and using their ships to shield of the cities. Flying low they form a defensive shield. So now their are 3 rings around the planet. The Slave Rebellion have the big Union capital above them, then come their ships and the hammerhead cruiser and finally the Hiocan ships below them.

((Combat, round 4: Veh Halitra fleet, Non combat action, shielding/protecting the population centers.
Attack: 2 / 4 / 4 - Skirmish Formation
Defence: 3 / 3 / 3 - Standard Formation

• Union Intelligence Report +1/+1/+1 to attack
  )

))

[Mercury]

((OOC:

You said I removed the defense bonus so no coordinating defence and cycling ship for Slave Rebellion fleet 11. Joining in on same combat round count for better overview.

You can only remove one Defensive Advantage Action with your action, not two. The Slave Rebellion Fleet had three active, one removed by the Praetorians, one by your fleet.

If you removed the cycling ships bonus, then their bonus from diverting power to shields and synchronizing defences would be active. I read your post as if you were removing the latter, rather than the formal. I can see how it could have been interpreted as being the other one.

Regardless, it doesn't matter for the total bonuses, but I'll correct in the new round post.))

[Mercury]

UDF RES 6 pressed the attack on Slave Rebellion Fleet 11 with maximum directed firepower, causing significant damage!

((OOC: I don't buy the "firing at the weak spots because the capital ships are turned towards the planet". I don't think spaceships work by having lots of armour in the front and none in the back, since they aren't tanks. However, you do have Union Intelligence Reports which tell exactly where their weak spots are. For that reason, I will approve the direct combat action.))

Meanwhile, UDF RIM 21 and moved inside the Slave Rebellion formations, or what was left after the earlier ramming actions. It was chaos out there, and ship to ship fighting became difficult to coordinate, but the fleet was no longer being attacked as a whole, so they could strike effectively!

((OOC: Offensive Advantage Action approved))

UDF RIM 7 took to their defenses, focussing on protecting themselves while offering what fire was possible and changing to Barrage formation.

((OOC: Direct Combat Action approved))

The Hiocan fleet meanwhile diverted from combat and moved in to defend the Remunzians as best as possible. However, their maneouvre took their ships into the planets atmosphere, which was not the natural habitat of a space based fleet, and the atmospheric entry caused some minor damage to ships in the fleet. Climbing out would cost some effort.

On top of that, they'd be vulnerable here - not as vulnerable as the Remunzians they were heroically protecting, however!

((OOC: I'm approving the non-combat action. This will have an important impact on the number of Remunzian survivors. I do note two things: Non Combat Actions (including the one by the Slave Rebellion fleet) remove your formation bonus. As such, you won't get a defensive formation bonus next round.

I'm also ruling that since you are entering an atmosphere of the planet (as noted in previous posts, the Slave Rebellion fleet are on the edge of that), your fleet will need to take a Non-Combat Action to leave again. That means you cannot re-enter space and immediately fight again, but you must spend one round elevating to space again, when you are ready to do so.))

((OOC: The combined attack against Slave Rebellion Fleet 11 is 8/8/8, against defensive values 7/7/7. The fleet takes one level of damage. Since they did not yet take damage, this does not (yet) reduce their effectiveness.

The combined attack against Slave Rebellion Fleet 23 is 6/6/6, against defensive values 4/4/4, so they too take a level of damage.

The union fleets manage to avoid damage this round.))

The Hiocan effort to save the Remunzians would no doubt offer a significant impact on the surface, but they could not prevent bombs from landing on cities and causing havoc and destruction below. They doubtlessly saved millions of lives, but could not prevent millions of others from being snuffed out. The exact death-toll would have to wait until the area was pacified.

[Chriz]

((OOC: While I was looking at the last round again I found out that Slave Rebellion Fleet 11 actually only has 6 defence left instead of 7. The 7 was the previous round where it still have 2 defensive advantages. It does not matter for the outcome of this round however.))

[Mercury]

Round 5

Slave Rebellion Fleet 23 scattered into skirmish formation and continued their bombing run attack, supported by the Remunzian missile silo's which let loose volley after volley.

Meanwhile, Slave Rebellion Fleet 11 retargetted the Hiocan fleet, spreading out and lining up their ships to fire such that if the Hiocan ships attempted to escape the worst of their fire, it would instead hit Remunzian cities. Which ever one took the fire served the purposes of the fleets admiral.

((Combat, round 5: Slave Rebellion Fleet 23, Attack UDF RIM 7, Direct Combat Action, +2 (Bombers targetting enemy fleet)
Attack: 4 / 6 / 4 - Standard Formation
Defence: 2 / 3 / 3 - Skirmish Formation

• -1/-1/-1 on Attack due to damage
• -1/-1/-1 on Defense due to damage (3 levels of damage)

))

((Combat, round 5: Slave Rebellion Fleet 11, Attack Vah Halitra fleet, Offensive Advantage Action (Align targets to force hits on Hiocans or Remunzians)
Attack: 2 / 2 / 2 - No Formation
Defence: 3 / 4 / 4 - Skirmish Formation

• Defensive Advantage Action (coordinating defence and cycling ships) +1/+1/+1 Defence
• 1 level of damage, no penalty yet

))

((Combat, round 5: Remunzia, Attacking UDF RIM 7
Attack: 6 / 2 / 2 - No formation (planet)
Defence: 8 / 8 / 8 - No formation (planet) ))

[Chriz]

((OOC: Switching to no formation is a choice that is allowed I guess...
The move that you are doing with the other fleet however is not allowed since the combat system works as: switch your defence formation -> use it as your attack formation next round.

You can not switch your attacking formation without the penalties of having the lack of defence first...))

[Mercury]

((OOC: I reversed the formation change order - you switch defence first, not attack first. I've corrected the post))

[Brend]

((OOC: Just an OOC conform that Mercury is following the rules correctly (with his edit, that is): the No Formation is not a choice, but rather an effect of Fleet 11 not making an attack in the previous round. As can be seen in the Battle Actions rules:

You may choose not to attack during your round. You should state this in your post. Doing this gives a bonus on an action. During your next round, you do not receive any battle formation bonuses, either defensive or offensive, as you struggle to get out of the advantage you gave your opponent by not attacking them and thus not forcing their hand.

Since Fleet 11 choose not to attack, but instead opt for the non-combat action of bombing the planet, they are now facing the consequences.

As a side note: the Veh Halitra fleet will have the same struggle this turn, since they also opted not to attack.))

[Elaris]

Their efforts are paying off. The Slave Rebellion fleet 11 takes the Veh Halitra fleet under fire.

It is good to see that the citizens are now second target instead of first. The only problem now is that they are the prime target and are getting the full blow. Their small fleet will not hold long, but they have the support of the Union fleets.

"Our fleet might be small and less powerful but we won't back down. Time to show them how to make the best use of your surroundings."

The fighters start to move in an out the atmosphere. Using the dense cloud to cover and make it impossible to use long range weapons due to the high friction in the atmosphere, they would burn up. The Veh Halitra fleet is keeping up the defensive shield of the population centre. It has changed from static to dynamically moving, this just in case the Slave Rebellion would change priorities.

((Combat, round 5: Veh Halitra fleet, Direct combat action +2 , using atmosphere against Slave Rebellion fleet 11
Attack: 2 / 2 / 2 - Standard Formation
Defence: 3 / 1 / 1 - Standard Formation

• Union Intelligence Report +1/+1/+1 to attack
  )

))

We will hold on as best as be can Admiral Giambastiani. We will keep them occupied, so you shoot them down.

((OOC: Hope this is correct))

[Alexander Giambastiani]

The UDF RES 6 continues to attack the Slave Rebellion Fleet 11. They synchronize all their capital ships and fire a full broadside attack at the same moment into the heart of the enemy fleet formation, targeting the commanding capital ships. After the capital ship fire has landed it is immediately followed up by a large wave of bombers that head straight for the commanding capital ship.

((Combat, round 4: UDF RES 6, attack Slave Rebellion Fleet 11, Offensive Advantage action, (Full broadside capital ship fire, followed by bombers targeting commanding capital ship)
Attack: 6 / 8 / 8 - Skirmish Formation
Defence: 4 / 5 / 5 - Skirmish Formation

• Union Intelligence Report +1/+1/+1 to attack
• Offensive Advantage +1/+1/+1 to attack (Boxing in section of the fleet)

))

The UDF RIM 21 continues to attack the Slave Rebellion Fleet 23 from within finishing off multiple enemy frigates in a swift move. The UDF RIM 21 is now throwing everything they got at the enemy. They released the fighters, bombers, boarding crews and destroyers.

((Combat, round 4: UDF RIM 21, attack Slave Rebellion Fleet 23
Attack: 7 / 7 / 7 - Standard Formation
Defence: 5 / 5 / 5 - Standard Formation

• Union Intelligence Report +1/+1/+1 to attack
• Offensive Advantage Action +1/+1/+1 to attack (Flanking)
• Offensive Advantage Action +1/+1/+1 to attack (Inside enemy formation)

))

The UDF RIM 7 started to spread out all its ships and moved away from the planet minimizing the actual damage from the incoming attacks of the planet.

((Combat, round 4: UDF RIM 7, Direct Combat Action, +2 (Spreading out and moving away from planet to minimize damage from long range missile fire)
Attack: 5 / 5 / 5 - Standard Formation
Defence: 7 / 5 / 5 - Standard Formation

• Union Intelligence Report +1/+1/+1 to attack
• Offensive Advantage Action +1/+1/+1 to attack (Flanking)
• Defensive Advantage Action +1/+1/+1 to defense (Using cover of moon)

))

The UDF CORE 10 joined the battle. The new ships dropped out of hyperspace very close to the Remunzian planet. The fresh capital ships and cruisers immediately moved towards the Remunzian cities, several of the cruisers also moved between the Hiocans and the Slave Rebellion Fleet 11 that was currently hammering them. It was interesting to see that all the large ships in the UDF CORE 10 did not fire a shot, instead they had routed all their power to the shields to prevent getting much damage themselves.

A channel was opened to the Hiocan Fleet. "This is admiral Ramires commander of the UDF CORE 10. We have routed all power to our shields and will protect the cities and make sure you have room to maneuvre."

((Combat, round 4: UDF CORE 10, non combat action, move over the Remunzian cities and between the Hiocan ships to shield them with all power routed to the shields.
Attack: 5 / 5 / 3 - Barrage Formation
Defence: 6 / 6 / 6 - Standard Formation

• Union Intelligence Report +1/+1/+1 to attack
• -2 to attack (first round)

))

[Mercury]

((OOC: I apologize for the lateness of this reply. I was already delayed a bit and then I got sick. I'm feeling somewhat better now, so trying to catch up.

On to more fun stuff: The Veh Halitra fleet is incorrectly listed as having a Standard attack formation. Due to taking a Non-Combat action, this should be "No Formation" instead, reducing their attack to 1/1/1. However, the atmospheric actions are approved))

The valiant effort of the Hiocan fleet scored effect, their ships absorbing much of the blows. However, they took a lot of damage as a result, their fleet going off balance.

((OOC: You were attacked by 2/2/2 and defended 3/1/1 - Two rings are beaten, placing you off balance. Next round, you get a -1 penalty on all your attack and damage stats.))

UDF RIM 7 withdrew somewhat from the battle to minimize their exposure as UDF RES 6 and UDF RIM 21 engaged in full. Meanwhile, UDF CORE 10 arrived on the scene and joined the battle.

The Slave Rebellion fleets took some serious damage and Fleet 23 was effectively disabled!

((OOC: UDF CORE 10 is arriving out of hyperspace, which means they have to arrive outside of the planets gravity well. While they can certainly join the battle, I don't feel that they can join the battle in the indicated way by immediately manoeuvring from outside the gravity well to position themselves between the planet and the Hiocans. The reason is that both those fleets are already inside the atmosphere of the planet, and moreover, the hostile fleet is the one they have to pass by.

For that reason I'm ruling that this round, UDF CORE 10 is arriving and making their move to the intended position, but they cannot complete the action until the next next round (so you need to spend an additional action to get to where you want to be).

Your actions for the other three fleets are approved.

The attack on UDF-RIM 7 is 6/6/4. Their defences are 7/5/5, so no harm is done.

The attack on Slave Rebellion Fleet 11 is 6/8/8 against defences 3/4/4. Another level of damage is caused, reducing their effectiveness by 1.

The attack on Slave Rebellion Fleet 23 is 7/7/7 against defences 2/3/3, which causes another level of damage. Fleet 23 is now incapacitated and will no longer participate in combat.))

[Alexander Giambastiani]

The UDF RES 6 continues to hammer down on the Slave Rebellion Fleet 11.

((Combat, round 6: UDF RES 6, attack Slave Rebellion Fleet 11
Attack: 7 / 9 / 9 - Skirmish Formation
Defence: 4 / 5 / 5 - Skirmish Formation

• Union Intelligence Report +1/+1/+1 to attack
• Offensive Advantage +1/+1/+1 to attack (Boxing in section of the fleet)
• Offensive Advantage +1/+1/+1 to attack (Focused fire on commanding capital ship)

))

The UDF RIM 21 continues to attack the Slave Rebellion Fleet 23 finish of damaged ships and ships that try to run.

((Combat, round 6: UDF RIM 21, attack Slave Rebellion Fleet 23
Attack: 7 / 7 / 7 - Standard Formation
Defence: 5 / 5 / 5 - Standard Formation

• Union Intelligence Report +1/+1/+1 to attack
• Offensive Advantage Action +1/+1/+1 to attack (Flanking)
• Offensive Advantage Action +1/+1/+1 to attack (Inside enemy formation)

))

The UDF RIM 7 continues to shield itself from the fire coming from the planet.

((Combat, round 6: UDF RIM 7, Direct Combat Action, +2 (Shielding itself from fire on the planet)
Attack: 5 / 5 / 5 - Standard Formation
Defence: 7 / 5 / 5 - Standard Formation

• Union Intelligence Report +1/+1/+1 to attack
• Offensive Advantage Action +1/+1/+1 to attack (Flanking)
• Defensive Advantage Action +1/+1/+1 to defense (Using cover of moon)

))

((OOC: Completion of action started last turn))
The fresh capital ships and cruisers moved towards the Remunzian cities, several of the cruisers also moved between the Hiocans and the Slave Rebellion Fleet 11 that was currently hammering them. It was interesting to see that all the large ships in the UDF CORE 10 did not fire a shot, instead they had routed all their power to the shields to prevent getting much damage themselves.

((Combat, round 6: UDF CORE 10, non combat action, move over the Remunzian cities and between the Hiocan ships to shield them with all power routed to the shields.
Attack: 6 / 6 / 6 - Standard Formation
Defence: 6 / 6 / 6 - Standard Formation

• Union Intelligence Report +1/+1/+1 to attack

))

[Elaris]

Rear fleet admiral Elaris was glad to get some help as they had taking quite some damage. Now that they are with two fleets, they could combine their effort so make the sum greater than their own effort.

The Veh Halitra fleet make room for the incoming ships of the UDF CORE 10 and starts circulating. Shields are overlapping and by switches place the incoming fire can be spread across the various ships. This is done to increase the surface of the planets population they are protection, but also themselves.

((Combat, round 6: Veh Halitra fleet, Taking defensive combat action, coordination defense effort with UDF CORE 10
Attack: 1 / 1 / 1 - Standard Formation
Defence: 2 / 2 / 2 - Standard Formation

• Union Intelligence Report +1/+1/+1 to attack
• Getting of balance -1 penalty on all
  )

))

((OOC: Battle count seem to be off for Union fleet or Slave Rebellion or me, could you check. I miss the Slave Rebellions action.))

[Alexander Giambastiani]

((OOC: You are right I missed the turn count last week. I updated it to 6 as it should be.))

[Mercury]

Slave Rebellion Fleet 23 was disabled and unable to take any actions. With Fleet 23 disabled, it was clear that the Slave Rebellion ships weren't going to win this battle against the Union.

Fleet 11 continued to fire on the Hiocans, apperantly hoping to cause some damage before they were disabled.

The planetary defenses turned their attention on the UDF CORE 10 as it positioned itself right in their firing line.

((Combat, round 6: Slave Rebellion Fleet 11, Attack Vah Halitra fleet, Offensive Advantage Action (Align targets to force hits on Hiocans or Remunzians)
Attack: 1 / 3 / 3 - Skirmish Formation
Defence: 2 / 3 / 3 - Skirmish Formation

• Defensive Advantage Action (coordinating defence and cycling ships) +1/+1/+1 Defence
• 2 levels of damage, -1 penalty

))

((Combat, round 6: Remunzia, Attacking UDF CORE 10
Attack: 6 / 2 / 2 - No formation (planet)
Defence: 8 / 8 / 8 - No formation (planet) ))

[Mercury]

Slave Rebellion Fleet 11 ships were being shot down left and right, the continued broadside of UDF RES 6 blowing up ships left and right and causing exceptional damage! The ships scattered in their skirmish formation, trying not to get blasted to pieces, but it had little effect in protecting them.

((OOC: The combined attack against Slave Rebellion Fleet 11 is 7 / 9 / 9. This causes another level of damage to the Slave Rebellion fleet.))

Slave Rebellion Fleet 23 meanwhile continued to be pummelled into oblivion. All order in this fleet had broken down, captains trying to escape and many of them getting shot down, others trying to land on Remunzia, still others ramming into Union ships or, in fact, into Slave Rebellion ships - the chaos was such that apparently the enemy had a hard time deciding which was which. As in the battle at Adii Nasla, the Slave Rebellion ships self-destructed rather than allowing themselves to be captured - as if the Union would have any use for the pile of bolts that qualified as a warship in the Slave Rebellion...

((OOC: Another level of damage is caused to Slave Rebellion Fleet 23. It is now on its second incapacitated level. It may still take more one level of damage and continue to exist, but after that it is wiped from existence.))

However, it wasn't all flowers... Slave Rebellion Fleet 11 continued fire on the Hiocan fleet, keeping it off balance, though not causing significant damage. The planetary defenses were less effective, not causing much harm, though that didn't stop the missile barrages.

((OOC: The combined attack against the Hiocan Fleet is 2 / 3 / 3 which against defences 2 / 2 / 2 causes them to be off balance again next round. The combined attack against UDF CORE 10 is 6 / 2 / 2 which is not enough to harm them.))

[Mercury]

Round 7

Seeing their ships being destroyed left and right, the commander of Slave Rebellion Fleet 11 changed tactics - rather drastically too. For a moment all that was clear was that almost the entire fleet suddenly started changing course. Were they retreating? The answer was no. Instead, the entire fleet turned towards the planet, flying on a ramming course towards the Union ships of UDF CORE 10 - and the cities below it.

It was a horrific tactic, which the Hutt Families had learned to fear - those ships would either ram into the UDF CORE 10 ships and cause major damage, or they would ram into the Remunzian cities, and cause major casualties there.

The ships that remained behind, apperantly not eager to die, attempted to flee the battle, preparing to jump - they could be sweeped up later without trouble and what would remain would be insignificant.

((OOC: The Slave Rebellion Fleet is using a special manoeuvre which their superpower has access to: a suicide run. This will disable their fleet, but will cause significant levels of damage. You can take a non-combat action to evade the attack, which means no damage will be caused to UDF CORE 10, but in that case, the damage will be suffered by the population of Remunzia.

In preparation of a question I expect may be asked: It is indeed possible to move another fleet in place of the Slave Rebellion ships with a non-combat action, though this means two fleets need to take a non-combat action.

Note however that the combat is not over after Slave Rebellion Fleet 11 is disabled - the planet is still active.

Sidenote: The ships which are fleeing is purely a roleplay action representing the fact that the Slave Rebellion Fleet is not entirely in agreement on making a suicide run. It does not significantly impact the battle and for purposes of stats can be entirely ignored))

On the planets southern pole, new energy signals became active. Another Planetary Defence Zone had been activated and now began launching surface-to-space missiles. These were larger than the ones launched from the northern pole, and split up into hundreds of smaller bombs before reaching their target!

The planet focussed its fire against the UDF RIM 21, possibly trying to buy time for some of the survivors of Slave Rebellion Fleet 23 to escape.

((OOC: The Slave Rebellion Armies on Remunzia have completed another Planetary Defence Zone, giving them +6 on (Middle Attack).))

((Combat, round 7: Slave Rebellion Fleet 11, suicide run against UDF CORE 10 (or Remunzia's cities)
Attack: 0 / 0 / 0 - Skirmish Formation (special manoeuvre)
Defence: 2 / 3 / 3 - Skirmish Formation

• Defensive Advantage Action (coordinating defence and cycling ships) +1/+1/+1 Defence
• 3 levels of damage, -1 penalty

))

((Combat, round 7: Remunzia, Attacking UDF RIM 21
Attack: 6 / 8 / 2 - No formation (planet)
Defence: 8 / 8 / 8 - No formation (planet) ))

[Elaris]

Seeing Slave Rebellion fleet 11 do a suicide run instead of normal fire made no change for the Hiocans. They were determined to protect the Remunzian population. The Hiocan ships open full fire to destroy the incoming ships and decrease the big junks of metal coming down, so they could catch them with the help of their shield and their own ships. Rear fleet Admiral Elaris knows this will heavy damage her own fleet, but will take full responsibility for it.

((Combat, round 7: Veh Halitra fleet, No combat action, helping in intercepting/catching the Slave Rebellion ships
Attack: 1 / 1 / 1 - Standard Formation
Defence: 1 / 1 / 1 - No Formation

• Union Intelligence Report +1/+1/+1 to attack
• Defensive bonus (coordinate defense with UDF core 10 +1/+1/+1 to defend
• Getting of balance -1 penalty on all
  )

))

((OOC: Battle count seem to be off Remunzia. Waiting for Union fleets reply))

[Alexander Giambastiani]

The UDF RES 6 and UDF RES 7 move to flank the planet while their bombers and fighters are destroying as many incoming ships of Slave Rebellion Fleet 11 as possible. UDF RES 6 moves above the north pole with a clear sight on the defence zone there, making sure that the defence zone on the south pole has a hard time hitting them. The UDF RES 7 does the opposite, they hover over the South pole, having the planet between them and the defence zone on the north pole.

The UDF RIM 21 does not stop with the fire from the planet coming its way. It continues to attack the remnants of Slave Rebellion Fleet 23. They have orders for complete destruction of the enemy and are willing to see it through to to end.

The UDF CORE 10 is sure that they are going so suffer heavy casualties if they don't act quickly. Seeing that the remaining enemy fleet is coming straight at them on a suicide run they decide to stay their course. Instead of moving away from the enemy in an attempt to avoid the inevitable 6 of the Union cruisers are moving straight into the enemy formation, or what is left of it. The crews of these cruisers have already ejected or left the vessels on the drop ships that are currently used to get to other friendly vessels. When the Union cruisers hit several enemy vessels the complete Union cruisers explode in decimating explosions. The cruisers had armed all their heavy ornaments and self-destructed, resulting in massive explosions taking many enemy vessels with them.

Although the material loss was huge, the loss of actual soldiers was minimal due to this maneuver.

((Combat, round 6: UDF RES 6, attack Slave Rebellion Fleet 11, Offensive Advantage action (Flanking the defence zones on the planet)
Attack: 7 / 9 / 9 - Skirmish Formation
Defence: 4 / 5 / 5 - Skirmish Formation

• Union Intelligence Report +1/+1/+1 to attack
• Offensive Advantage +1/+1/+1 to attack (Boxing in section of the fleet)
• Offensive Advantage +1/+1/+1 to attack (Focused fire on commanding capital ship)

))

((Combat, round 6: UDF RIM 21, Finishing off the remnants of Slave Rebellion Fleet 23.
Attack: 7 / 7 / 7 - Standard Formation
Defence: 5 / 5 / 5 - Standard Formation

• Union Intelligence Report +1/+1/+1 to attack
• Offensive Advantage Action +1/+1/+1 to attack (Flanking)
• Offensive Advantage Action +1/+1/+1 to attack (Inside enemy formation)

))

((Combat, round 6: UDF RIM 7, attack Slave Rebellion Fleet 11, Offensive Advantage action (Flanking the defence zones on the planet)
Attack: 5 / 5 / 5 - Standard Formation
Defence: 5 / 5 / 5 - Standard Formation

• Union Intelligence Report +1/+1/+1 to attack
• Offensive Advantage Action +1/+1/+1 to attack (Flanking)
• Defensive Advantage Action +1/+1/+1 to defense (Using cover of moon)

))

((Combat, round 6: UDF CORE 10, Defensive Advantage Action (Self destructing several of their own cruisers in key locations)
Attack: 5 / 5 / 5 - No Formation
Defence: 4 / 4 / 4 - No Formation

• Union Intelligence Report +1/+1/+1 to attack

))

[Mercury]

The Hiocan and Union fleets gave it their all to stop the Slave Rebellion suicide run, stopping the vast majority of the ships from reaching the planet and saving countless lives in the process. However, the damage to their fleets was immense, both from the self-destructs and from the ships hit by incoming enemy vessels. UDF CORE 10 and the Hiocan fleet each took three levels of damage each, severely crippling their combat ability.

Slave Rebellion Fleet 11 was no more, and Slave Rebellion Fleet 23 took another level of damage, basically just waiting to be wiped out of existence entirely to follow the other fleet.

((OOC: All your actions are reasonable and I'd approve them though I did considered the matter of whether a Defence Zone could be flanked. Its more complicated than it seems.

First off, there is the scale to consider. We deliberately do not define how large a fleet is, nor do we define how large a "zone" is, though we do list that it can support about a billion people. I don't think fleets are on that scale - then again, neither is the army defending it, so there's some argument to be made on both sides. Secondly, a defence zone is not a combat entity - the planet is, and it is clearly an order of magnitude bigger than the zone, which is already clearly bigger than a fleet. Can you flank a part of the combat entity, and if so, how?

If I say no to flanking, however, this raises the point of "but what -can- you realistically do against a planet?". I don't really have an answer. There are rules for planetary defences (which actually make Remunzia a -lot- tougher than I've statted it so far, now that I've reread them), but they aren't as useful as I'd like.

Looking at this from a grander perspective, the Slave Rebellion fleets have been defeated. Additionally, there are Jedi Operatives on the planet. And I don't feel that we get the maximum enjoyment by running this through for another six or seven rounds of number comparisons.

For these reasons, I propose that we exit combat mode and enter roleplay mode. The Union fleet has been victorious and can prepare for a ground offensive - possibly coordinated with the ongoing Jedi mission. How do you two feel about this idea?))