Operation: INDIGO BELL (UCA Only, FT, CLOSED)
Posted: Sun Oct 14, 2018 7:53 pm
FSS Constitution, Republica-Class Battlecruiser
Command Deck
OPERATION: Indigo Bell Staging Point
Kalonda System
0254 Concordia Standard Time
After more than nine months of silence across the Neutral Zone dividing Federation and UCA space, orders trickled down from Nova Arra on the details of Operation: INDIGO BELL, a series of tactical strikes against crucial UCA military outposts and listening stations across nine border systems, devoted to watching out for incoming Federation forces and warning the Colonial brass at Citadel Station. Operation: Indigo Bell was one of nine separate operations being carried out by multiple other fleets in support of Operation: STARDUST SONATA, a massive invasion carried out by every branch of the military, incorporating every available asset to funnel through the systems cleared by the Constitution and her fellow ships and launch out into a spiderweb pattern across Colonial core systems. The stakes for this operation were high. Too high for failure. If any of the nine Operations allowed any sort of warning to reach Citadel, Colonial brass would mobilize every available fleet and shore up the border systems, sending our fleets slamming into a prepared Alliance defense like waves on jagged rocks. Casualties for the Federation would be catastrophic, despite superior technology and firepower. It would transform from an easy one-two combo to UCA core worlds to a bloody knife-fight in a dark alley. The trick that made this operation not as easy as it could be was that Federation brass wanted these stations and listening posts captured, not destroyed. Otherwise, a signal jammer and a few Hullbuster-type missiles would close the book on Operation: INDIGO BELL. Since the upper echelon of the Federation navy liked things the hard way, now they required boarding parties, limiting the use of heavy weapons and preparing the med-bay for casualties. Even the smallest listening post carried a company of Marines and all UCA staff, even the cooks, knew how to operate like a Federation Army grunt. Admiral Booker gave the UCA credit where it was due, they knew how to train their boys. While the brass wanted the stations operational, the same couldn't be said for the personnel inside the station.
Admiral Nathan Booker and seventeen other Admirals sat through a three-hour long briefing on their targets, crucial target points, station defenses, system maps and preferred methods of engagement, even though Booker knew their "methods", opinions more like, were like assholes: everybody had one and they all stunk. Admiral Booker of the Constitution and Rear Admiral Devers of the Dauntless would be responsible for the Catana System, an empty little backwater home to a Class V gas giant circling around an F-Class Star. Stills from FEDINT probes showed the target: a UCA space station, a very big station. The fact that it wasn't something small like the listening post of 4 men and two relay stations that Admiral Stewart of the Fearless and Admiral Marona of the Sovereign received made Booker's stomach sink. Because of how large the station it was and how many men and ships were docked there, he would have to preside over a pitched space battle followed by a bloody fight against at least a full Battalion of UCA regulars, maybe even a few Berserker operators to boot. FEDINT detailed how Onoka Station used to be a commercial trading post that served the surrounding ten systems, formerly home to cutthroats, crime bosses, and mercenaries until Colonial Alliance destroyers and Berserkers "evicted" them, for lack of a better word. Now, it was a border security stronghold, one of three spread out across the border that monitored the smaller stations and posts. There was a silver lining at least. The only ships docked to Onoka Station seemed to be mainly civilian freighters, probably hired by the UCA to drop in supplies so the troops there wouldn't starve. FEDINT targeted one Colonial Alliance shuttle, markings seem to imply it belonged to a high ranking political official, probably getting the grand tour of their border facilities to save face and help him get re-elected to their snobby little conclave full of traitors and back-biters. After Operation: STARDUST SONATA, their days would be numbered. If that shuttle was still there by the time of the launch, Booker and Devers agreed to take it down first, just for kicks.
The entire ship was bustling with activity as the strike force awaited the green light for the Operation. Hangar crews were lifting J4 Halberds and J7 Lancers from storage, getting them warmed up and ready for the whole wing to deploy. Pilots were getting briefed on their formations and attack patterns, hoping to minimize losses and maximize efficiency. They would have to move fast to clear out the Alliance fighters and clear the way for boarding spears to punch through Onoka's armor plating and flood the corridors with Marines. Admiral Booker requested a full company of Legionnaires to help give them an edge, what with home-field advantage an all. His request was denied on the account that "Legionnaire battalions were preparing for STARDUST SONATA and could not be spared." Thanks, Command. Thought Booker as he looked over the strike force roster once more, detailing the two Republica-Class Battlecruisers and Victorious-Class Heavy Cruiser, the Warspite, commanded by Captain John Beckham, a veteran officer with one Liberty-Class kill and three Victory-Class Light Cruisers, all confirmed. An outstanding record. The man would have made Admiral by now if he wasn't so outspoken in his political views. Disagree with the wrong politicians and they'll make sure you're stuck on Captain 'till you retire. The rest of the Constitution was locked down and ready to dance. Marines were already seated in their assault shuttles and boarding spears, pilots were exfilling from the briefing rooms to their crafts, gunners were at station, engineers were standing by for potential damage control, medics were stockpiling stims and surgery kits, standing by with gurneys at the entrances to the hangars, and techs were at station, ready to conduct cyberwarfare operations and jam every system on that station. They wouldn't have much time. They would need to jump in close to the station to get a good jam in. If the station had an Artificial Intelligence, they would have a maximum of thirty minutes to take out exterior defenses, fight through the station to the A.I. Node Core and disable it before the A.I. had the chance to fight through the jam and ping out a distress call to the closest core fleets. Federal Intelligence assured the strike admirals that none of these stations had anything above a Smart VI. It wouldn't be the first time FEDINT was wrong, but were they going to be held responsible for their miscall? Hell no.
The operations were set to begin at 0330, when the Republica-Classes would roll in and establish their jamming wave and take the first step towards a complete decimation of the Colonial Alliance Navy before they even had a chance to organize. But only if every strike force pulled off their objective. Booker ran the scenario over and over again in his head. Rush in, jam, take out fighters and exterior defenses while sending every damn spear and shuttle we got, roll over lazy Alliance defenders, take the station. Nothing to it.
Command Deck
OPERATION: Indigo Bell Staging Point
Kalonda System
0254 Concordia Standard Time
After more than nine months of silence across the Neutral Zone dividing Federation and UCA space, orders trickled down from Nova Arra on the details of Operation: INDIGO BELL, a series of tactical strikes against crucial UCA military outposts and listening stations across nine border systems, devoted to watching out for incoming Federation forces and warning the Colonial brass at Citadel Station. Operation: Indigo Bell was one of nine separate operations being carried out by multiple other fleets in support of Operation: STARDUST SONATA, a massive invasion carried out by every branch of the military, incorporating every available asset to funnel through the systems cleared by the Constitution and her fellow ships and launch out into a spiderweb pattern across Colonial core systems. The stakes for this operation were high. Too high for failure. If any of the nine Operations allowed any sort of warning to reach Citadel, Colonial brass would mobilize every available fleet and shore up the border systems, sending our fleets slamming into a prepared Alliance defense like waves on jagged rocks. Casualties for the Federation would be catastrophic, despite superior technology and firepower. It would transform from an easy one-two combo to UCA core worlds to a bloody knife-fight in a dark alley. The trick that made this operation not as easy as it could be was that Federation brass wanted these stations and listening posts captured, not destroyed. Otherwise, a signal jammer and a few Hullbuster-type missiles would close the book on Operation: INDIGO BELL. Since the upper echelon of the Federation navy liked things the hard way, now they required boarding parties, limiting the use of heavy weapons and preparing the med-bay for casualties. Even the smallest listening post carried a company of Marines and all UCA staff, even the cooks, knew how to operate like a Federation Army grunt. Admiral Booker gave the UCA credit where it was due, they knew how to train their boys. While the brass wanted the stations operational, the same couldn't be said for the personnel inside the station.
Admiral Nathan Booker and seventeen other Admirals sat through a three-hour long briefing on their targets, crucial target points, station defenses, system maps and preferred methods of engagement, even though Booker knew their "methods", opinions more like, were like assholes: everybody had one and they all stunk. Admiral Booker of the Constitution and Rear Admiral Devers of the Dauntless would be responsible for the Catana System, an empty little backwater home to a Class V gas giant circling around an F-Class Star. Stills from FEDINT probes showed the target: a UCA space station, a very big station. The fact that it wasn't something small like the listening post of 4 men and two relay stations that Admiral Stewart of the Fearless and Admiral Marona of the Sovereign received made Booker's stomach sink. Because of how large the station it was and how many men and ships were docked there, he would have to preside over a pitched space battle followed by a bloody fight against at least a full Battalion of UCA regulars, maybe even a few Berserker operators to boot. FEDINT detailed how Onoka Station used to be a commercial trading post that served the surrounding ten systems, formerly home to cutthroats, crime bosses, and mercenaries until Colonial Alliance destroyers and Berserkers "evicted" them, for lack of a better word. Now, it was a border security stronghold, one of three spread out across the border that monitored the smaller stations and posts. There was a silver lining at least. The only ships docked to Onoka Station seemed to be mainly civilian freighters, probably hired by the UCA to drop in supplies so the troops there wouldn't starve. FEDINT targeted one Colonial Alliance shuttle, markings seem to imply it belonged to a high ranking political official, probably getting the grand tour of their border facilities to save face and help him get re-elected to their snobby little conclave full of traitors and back-biters. After Operation: STARDUST SONATA, their days would be numbered. If that shuttle was still there by the time of the launch, Booker and Devers agreed to take it down first, just for kicks.
The entire ship was bustling with activity as the strike force awaited the green light for the Operation. Hangar crews were lifting J4 Halberds and J7 Lancers from storage, getting them warmed up and ready for the whole wing to deploy. Pilots were getting briefed on their formations and attack patterns, hoping to minimize losses and maximize efficiency. They would have to move fast to clear out the Alliance fighters and clear the way for boarding spears to punch through Onoka's armor plating and flood the corridors with Marines. Admiral Booker requested a full company of Legionnaires to help give them an edge, what with home-field advantage an all. His request was denied on the account that "Legionnaire battalions were preparing for STARDUST SONATA and could not be spared." Thanks, Command. Thought Booker as he looked over the strike force roster once more, detailing the two Republica-Class Battlecruisers and Victorious-Class Heavy Cruiser, the Warspite, commanded by Captain John Beckham, a veteran officer with one Liberty-Class kill and three Victory-Class Light Cruisers, all confirmed. An outstanding record. The man would have made Admiral by now if he wasn't so outspoken in his political views. Disagree with the wrong politicians and they'll make sure you're stuck on Captain 'till you retire. The rest of the Constitution was locked down and ready to dance. Marines were already seated in their assault shuttles and boarding spears, pilots were exfilling from the briefing rooms to their crafts, gunners were at station, engineers were standing by for potential damage control, medics were stockpiling stims and surgery kits, standing by with gurneys at the entrances to the hangars, and techs were at station, ready to conduct cyberwarfare operations and jam every system on that station. They wouldn't have much time. They would need to jump in close to the station to get a good jam in. If the station had an Artificial Intelligence, they would have a maximum of thirty minutes to take out exterior defenses, fight through the station to the A.I. Node Core and disable it before the A.I. had the chance to fight through the jam and ping out a distress call to the closest core fleets. Federal Intelligence assured the strike admirals that none of these stations had anything above a Smart VI. It wouldn't be the first time FEDINT was wrong, but were they going to be held responsible for their miscall? Hell no.
The operations were set to begin at 0330, when the Republica-Classes would roll in and establish their jamming wave and take the first step towards a complete decimation of the Colonial Alliance Navy before they even had a chance to organize. But only if every strike force pulled off their objective. Booker ran the scenario over and over again in his head. Rush in, jam, take out fighters and exterior defenses while sending every damn spear and shuttle we got, roll over lazy Alliance defenders, take the station. Nothing to it.