Untitled chapter 15

29th of August 229 of the Universal Calendar, DeRyck’s Flying Circus links with the Federate loyalist provisional flotilla under the command of commodore Jedi Rega at Satursol. They arrived ahead of Mazzareli who was still in transit on the way from Terra. Allegedly it is said when Jedi saw the Flying Circus, he fell to his knees and lamented ‘Is this all that Metropolis Sol has to offer?! What a pitiful Creator we have!’

Jedi’s flotilla of some 400 warships had seen sparse skirmishes with the turncoats near Marsol’s Cluster colonies, and managed to rebuff a orbital landing into Cambreau starzone back in June. This had, however, cost Rega the firepower needed to launch his own offense into Confederate territory specifically at Alsand where defenses were the weakest.

On the 30th, a war council was summoned upon the arrival of Mazzareli at Side Mauritania, Satursol.

“To strike at the [rebels] in Alsand, we can then swing south to Saubia, where we subdue the belligerents there and if all goes well… we make haste to Sallala and do much the same. Finally, the rebels in Dondes will be encircled, and will be forced to expose themselves to a much larger foe. The success of these operations will result in the pacification of Metropolian Sol’s backyard.”

Rega was however not aware of reinforcements coming through Taishō. Surprised by this intelligence, he shared similar sentiments with his superors of a more thorough invasion to be commited elsewhere—either into the Frankish Domains or across the Caldonia corridor itself.

“The Confederate’s expeditionary force across the Taishō is clearly designed to be a ploy to lure our armada in… while their main battlefleet lies in wait for our fleet to engage they cross the Caldonia and dictate peace terms in Sydney. Or.. they want to lure us away from the densely populated Frankish Domains. Regardless of intention, my superiors had acted too briskly, and it may cost us victory for we had leapt straight into the Confeds’ schemes.”

During and after the war, this peculiur phase was coined as the “Taishō riddle” due to the inability of the Federation high command to pinpoint the tactical goal of the manuever into Taishō. Similarly, Confederate records are light on this subject due to admiral Tory Dolz maintaining very little of after action reports or the like.

Commondore Jedi Rega emphasized the need to cut off the entry-point (at Salalla) and maintain superiority before the Confederate navy can balance the frontlines. By denying the confederate navies the ability to merge they create a chance opportunity of creating a pocket that the Federation would wear down by attrition, and thus achieve total annihilation of the turncoat fleet.

The plan was as follows: The Flying Circus would act as a flying column and cature Alsand. According to somewhat dubious intelligence, the frontlines was weakest at Alsand because the Cambreau offense had deployed from there and did not get reinforced in it’s aftermath. DeRyck would subsequently shift his attention south to Saubia and then if opposition fails to check their advance, Salalla.

The Federation armada under Mazzareli would then simultaneously confront the turncoats at Marsol in a pitched battle before pacifying Dondes and rebuke incoming Confederate reinforcements at Salalla.

It sounded like a perfect operation on paper, as any warplan should be. Some had concerns of it’s success, however, as it was based on the confessions of a Confederate deserter from the Alsand-based Confederate fleet, as well as the unknown whereabouts of the encroaching Tory armada. Many operations officers debated hotly about the ‘if’s and ‘whats’ of scenarios based on the circumstances of the Tory fleet’s impact on the mission’s success; could they engage the Flying Circus, destroy them and perform a reverse pocket on them before asserting dominance on Satursol and beyond?

Neither Mazzareli nor DeRyck had little in the way of last second overthinking. Mazzareli’s armada departed first for Marsol, on the 3rd of September 229. DeRyck’s Circus began it’s sortie some time later a few days later on the 5th.

Following the fallout from the failed Cambreau invasion, the Alsand territorial naval force under commodore Manfred Talamo was faced with a precarious dilemma. His subordinates reported to him a number of complaints about the state of the men:

“The loss of their comrades on top of the failure to seize Cambreau has caused a devastating impact on the troops. Each passing day brings less sailors to muster… and even less escape pods in inventory. It seems the general recruit does not wish to partake in this magnificent crusade to overcome the tyrannical empire. The veteran grimaces… for they have no one to continue their fight if they perish.”

The request for reinforcements was at first denied in the weeks following Cambreau. His missive was sent to the commander at Marsol who denied it on the anticipation of a refocused effort to take the system. He was not, however, aware of Jedi’s state of affairs and therefore was oblivious to his military superiority over local Federation forces. However, his window of opportunity closed when the Federation armada entered the region. Had circumstances been different, the entirely of Greater Sol could have seen firmly in Confederate hands, allowing for allied forces to funnel the incoming Federation navy at Satursol.

On August 27th, during an inspection of his battleship the CSN Prennia, a compartment containing several racks of missiles had short circuited. The resulting cascading of explosions killed the stationed crew as well as as the outlaying shuttle that the commander was on, resulting in an instantaneous fiery death. Command passed over to commodore Caw Signor, who was similarly inspecting a marine battalion at one of Marsol’s Cluster colonies.

Upon the news of his precessor’s demise, Caw assumed command and returned back to his headquarters above the CSN Palomino. He received a second missive from Manfred requesting additional ships. Manfred considered his options, aware now that the Federation relief force had arrived in Satursol. He ordered a few squadrons comprising 150 ships and additional personnel to be strategically redeployed to Alsand’s defenses.

A day later Signor received some good news; DeRyck’s armada entered the Taishō starzone and was in the process of continuing it’s course for Salalla. The news did well to bolster morale at both Marsol as well as Alsand. For Manfred, bolstered manpower and Confederate relief from Ruthenia meant that this would be effective at combating desertion.

The only question was, how long could either hold out against the Federation onslaught?