Oops. I didn't see that coming. Time to adapt on the fly.
17-18 Aug 06
We now had a few goals. The Hiver colony at Rozokor had to be removed. The Hiver gate network had to be detected and destroyed. Then we needed to explore the other side of the rift and find what the Lizards and Humans were up to. The last was troubling since we had seen incursions from both forces.
We sent the remains of the defense fleet from Tuumen out to look for Hiver gates. We also built small scout groups to check in on the planets we did not control. More Hiver gates meant more trouble. They were to identify first then destroy if possible. Apparently we weren't the only ones with this goal. Our fleets found some Humans doing the same. The Tuumen fleet was able to take out a Human cruiser and the light gate fleet it was attacking. Another of our scouts took out a Hiver gate near the edge of our colonies.
We were thinking that learning the Human song and offering at least a temporary peace would become important soon. We quickly learned it was critical. One of our scout found a Human settlement had kicked out the previous Hiver owners. The had reinforced it with a light fleet, but a full three rings of satellite defenses. Yes, the Humans had dreadnought technology ahead of us. Our goals required some reshuffling as we quickly studied their song.
Preparations for the renewed assault on Rozokor were well underway by this time. Even the greater threat from the Humans did not diminish our resolve in that area. No, Rozokor would be taken out to reduce the Hiver threat and put the lost souls to rest. We planned two waves of attack with the option of a third if necessary.
The Hivers still had a card to play as well. They launched an attack to retake Rychopre. Fortunately the colony was pretty well established by now. Some funds would have be diverted to beef up the defenses, but the attack on Rozokor would press on. The first wave with plasma cruisers launched on time. The follow up wave would have our new assault cruisers to help punch through the defending fleet. The third wave would bring in the barrage cruisers to take out he planet.
The first wave met heavy resistance. They held back near the edge of the system to limit damage from the planetary defenses. Their goal was to engage the defense fleet and inflict as many casualties as possible. The first Hiver attack was mostly destroyers. They must have been older ships since they were swept aside. Then came four Hiver cruisers. They were all heavily armored and three had torpedo launchers. It was a tight battle with occasional Hiver destroyers coming in to join the fray, making a run at the command ship and getting destroyed.
We were able to take down two of the cruisers before losing the first of our own, but then the ships converged with a new swarm of destroyers and descended on the command ship. We were able to take out the remaining cruisers and half of destroyers before we had to pull back to repair, rearm and resupply. Once again we lost the command ship. Rozokor was becoming a graveyard for our best and brightest.
The second wave launched right after that battle. It would take them an extra turn to get there. The repair ships worked mightily and got the fleet ready to hold off another assault. They had taken the brunt of the attack but survived. The problem now was the Hiver still had fresh ships, and we were fielding older ships led by the back up command ship.
As the fleets engaged again, the Hivers tried to entice us to fight closer to the planet and its defenses. With our lack of firepower that would have been suicide. The fleet chose to continue its stand off until the next wave could arrive. The Hivers eventually sent out a group of three cruisers and a swarm of destroyers. It ended up a pretty even fight. We lost ships one for one, but still have a force in the field when the Hivers pull back to the planet. The weak part of this strategy was that we couldn't get to the gate this way. That would be the goal of the next wave.
That story and the assault on Rychopre will be coming soon.
Jason
