Liberty Navy 46th Fleet Security Clearance: < GRANTED >
Sender ID: Lieutenant Commander Fox
Vessel ID: 46th|LNS-Auburn.Hills
Subject: Report - 3/24/836 | Reppu Bend Cleanup Operation
High Command,
Its been a busy week for us - First the operation above West Point that left my primary command Skidmore heavily damaged and now, I give you a report on our latest crushing victory near the Reppu Bend in Galileo against Technocracy and Kusari forces.
While the Skidmore was in Norfolk drydock receiving repairs, I had been temporarily re-assigned to my old command, the Defiant-class gunboat Auburn Hills. I had orders to patrol the Colorado and Galileo systems for Kusari incursions and investigation of possible collusion between the Kusari Empire and our various home-grown unlawful elements. I linked up with Capt. Brown near the Ohio battlegroup's formation, as she was performing checks for embargoed contraband on vessels entering Liberty space from the contested Galileo system. We had heard rumblings of the usual suspects causing issues on the lanes between Liberty and Kusari, the typical modus operandi of our enemies - attempting to cause us economic damage.
As I was commanding one of the more mobile vessels in the formation, I was sent to investigate the claims of interlocutors on the lanes and found our intelligence reports to be true. A moderately sized fleet of remnant insurgents under the banner of the TFP - as well as various independent pilots under the same, were gathering at the Reppu bend not far from Bristol's Arcetri station. While our fleet was mustering to meet them, multiple ships bearing Kusari identifiers also appeared, primarily snubcrafts with one gunship supporting. Their intentions were neutral, at first, but as we expected they eventually joined on the side of the criminals, wholly unsurprising for agents of the rogue Kusari state.
The order of battle was as follows:
Liberty Armed Forces & Allies
1x Akhetaten-class
6x Defiant-class
6 snubcraft of various subclasses
Enemy forces
2x Hel-class Cruisers
2x gunboats of Condor-class
5 or 6 snubcraft of varying classes
Kusari forces, aligned with the enemy
1x gunship class, a repurposed civilian vessel
3x snubcraft of varying classes
Summarized battle narrative
As our fleet was mustering about 20 klicks from the Reppu bend, the large, mobile fleet of criminal elements took advantage of our relative precarious positioning and mounted a full-on assault. We were not taken off guard, as it were, but as our forces were still arriving from the Colorado system. During this time the Kusari forces simply observed and found it prudent to bide their time while their enemies tore each others throats out.
The first order of business for our gunboats was to eliminate the enemy gunboats, which was done in short order due to the lighter armoring of the repurposed civilian vessels in comparison to our military-grade hardware. Each ship was pounded with plasma fire until its hull boiled away, and nothing but a charred, cratered husk remained. The tenacious enemy snubcraft picked at us like piranhas to a carcass, during this period both First Fleet gunboats were lost. Unfortunately for our enemies, however, we prevailed in destroying their gunboats and soon moved on to support our snubcraft, who were soon to be outnumbered by the entry of the Kusari forces into the battle, who, once the tide began to turn against the criminals, joined forces with them.
While the battle between the smaller ships was raging, the Akhetaten took on the two cruiser vessels in a two-on-one matchup half a dozen klicks from the main skirmish. The miscreants were using their knowledge gleaned from fighting Akhetaten-class vessels quite well, with both cruisers focusing the ship's weak points near the engine reactor. A distress call from Captain Brown was received and we quickly responded along with another gunboat, the LNS-Justice of our fleet. Both cruisers were heavily damaged by Captain Brown's skilled actions, but they were beginning to gain ground thanks to their superior maneuverability compared to the near-Dreadnought sized Akhe. With us assisting the Akhetaten, however, the two crippled cruisers stood no chance at victory. One after the other, both fell as the Akhetaten retreated to Colorado for emergency repairs.
With their capital ships destroyed and only snubcraft remaining, several of our gunboats came to assist our snubcraft who were beginning to take heavy losses from the combined pressure of the damage the enemy gunboats wrought before they met their fate as well as the numerically superior enemy snubcraft, buoyed by Kusari reinforcements. One snubcraft of Kusari origin met its end by our guns at this point, bursting into flames as its hull gave out as the pilot was in hot pursuit of one of our own.
Slowly but surely, the enemy were whittled down with one snubcraft fleeing into the nearby dark matter cloud, with the surviving Kusari forces retreating back to Shikoku.
During this battle, we attribute two confirmed kills to our actions, as well as five assistive actions. Guncam of the battle and proof of our contribution follows.
Very respectfully,
LT CDR Julius A. Fox
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Julius A. Fox
Lieutenant Commander Liberty Navy 46th Fleet