The Mulgore battle fleet jumped into Gonkrag. The Kindred system, their homeworld with a fledgling colony and at least two ships if astrogation was correct.

The battle fleet arrived scattered, two in the North and one to the south; the Mulgore, Worthy and Bear. This was the first combat that the fleet would see and they were desperate to inflict mortal wounds on the Kindred vessels. The Kindred were known from the eternal war on Tartarus, a vampiric race, cunning, evil and yet alluring.

The two northern ships stayed stealthy, laying mines near the Kindred colony worlds. The southern ship – the Bear fired off a massive beholder. The aim being to illuminate both Kindred colonies and the space between. Soon the beholder arrived and luckily both Kindred vessels were illuminated.

The Bear fired off attack drones, one of the northern vessels – the Worthy also fired off a non stealthy attack drone, revealing it’s position. While the Mulgore fired off more mines.

All plans of battle must adapt. In this case the two Kindred vessels simply jumped to the galactic, conceding the system to the Mulgore battle fleet. Comms with the Kindred showed they were not ships of the line, merely colonisation ark ships unsuited to combat. However, on the tide that the Kindred jumped the Sathar jumped in with their own fleet. These ships made use of the Mulgore visibility – firing attack drones and moving to draw their fleet together.

The Sathar were to the south of the system, and they greatly outnumbered the single Mulgore battleship in this quadrant – the Bear was at risk. The admiral called for reinforcements and a fourth Mulgore vessel; the Galahad jumped in from the deep dark, arriving to the south east. Meanwhile the Bear activated the Spindizzy, fleeing east between the gas giant and the smaller inner system worlds.

The Sathar scored several hits upon the fleeing Bear, they also illuminated the eastern side of the system, revealing the Mulgore and Worthy as they vectored east and south to try to bring the Mulgore fleet together.

The Bear, meanwhile, had managed to move between the worlds, through a gravity well, and was hoping for safety and repair from the Galahad. Sadly, one of the Sathar vessels was fleeing west through the same gravity well gap, and had combat mass on board, unlike the Bear which had used it up in repair. The Sathor IV fired a massively overloaded attack drone from close quarters, at the same time the Bear powered towards the Galahad who launched a repair drone of it’s own.

Could the Bear make it through? Or would the Sathor illuminate and deliver a killing blow? The Mulgore admiral had a plan, and that was to exploit the lockdown on the system (having previously fired lockdown drones), and to regroup before moving to close quarters and pulverising the Sathor fleet.

All this required was that the Sathor fleet of 2 known battleships, and a glimpsed 3rd vessel, do as required, and remain stationary. Not at all likely, but the strategy for the moment.

Several turn later:
The Bear was critically wounded by the passing Sathor IV and jumped from the system, conceding DarkLight to the enemy. The Sathor fleet had used Spindizzy drives to then vanish into the unknown far west of the system. The remaining 3 Mulgore ships were giving chase, having to move through the same gap between worlds that had caught the Bear. The Sathor had left a mine field across the western entrance to this passage, and some in-gravity manoeuvring was pinning the Mulgore vessels for several turns. No doubt the Sathor would be laying more mines in stealth mode to the west.

At last the Galahad sped west, Spindizzies active and made it to the dark space in the west, where last the Sathor vessels were seen. The next tide would see the Mulgore and Worthy join it. Then battle could again commence.

Spindizzies were activated and the fleet of 3 were again marshalled. They had made it into the dark, and fully expected a large mine field. To the North a single Sathar vessel was on scan, sending repair drones to one of it's sister ships. This gave away both it's position, and that of the stricken sister ship.

The Mulgore fleet fired mines to the north, this was a clearance barrage. These mines were high move and high armour, to soak up the damage and clear a path through the expected mine field. It worked, and the tactic was repeated, on a slightly wider spread.

The admiral spoke to the fleet, warning them of the impending battle, Spindizzies had recharged, and a single large beholder was fired to the North, at the same time the fleet shot North. The next tide revealed the enemy, 3 Sathar ships, of moderate size, this battle was going to be a close thing. The large beholder also illuminated the Mulgore vessels, and nothing could be done to stop the slaughter...

The Fleets Converge

The Mulgore fired an EMP to try and cripple the 2 Sathar flying close formation. The Galahad and Worthy both fired upon these same vessels. The Mulgore also moved off - knowing that the EMP backlash could disable it for a tide. Only time would show what the Sathar vessels did in reply.

And their reply was not expected, they created a large scrambler field and fled into it. They fired two attack drones at the Galahad, 1 was destroyed by one of the Mulgore mines fired to clear the Sathar field, the other should have hit, but lost targetting and imploded. First blood to the Mulgore fleet.

All that the Mulgore could now do was seed the scrambler field with mines, and try and disrupt it with GravStars. Not ideal, but still, this Sathar fleet would require some patience to kill.

The gravstar bloomed, the mines deployed and the scrambler zone shrunk. The Mulgore vessels Spindizzies slowly recharged and the crew waited for a tide. Then the fleet split, the Galahad sped up the east flank, the Mulgore stayed back incase the Sathor vessels tried to escape in that direction, and the Worthy broke west, skirting the scrambler field.

The next tide showed another unexpected result, the Sathor 2 lay exposed on the edge of the scrambler field, it's jump drive engaged before it vanished back to the galactic. The Sathor IV engaged Spindizzy and ran to the North, into the dark again.

The Mulgore fleet celebrated, the Galahad in particular - having gained the DarkLight from the vanquished Sathar ship.

The remaining Sathar IV may be the last of the Sathor vessels in the system, it was unclear. It was severely damaged, possibly from the prior battle with the Kindred, or from mines during this battle. Either way it would be an easy kill.

The Galahad and Worthy would chase it into the dark of the system, while the Mulgore would stay on station in case another Sathor vessel lay within the massively mined scrambler zone.

The Galahad got ahead of it's sister ships - the Worthy being stuck by the gravstar it had fired to try an penetrate the scrambler zone. The Mulgore moved further east, circling the Gonkrag XII gravity well. A classic pincer movement which would allow them both to finish off the Sathor IV. They also fired a huge beholder, illuminating the northern reaches of the system.

The Galahad had avoided a Sathor mine field, which was part luck and part planning, skirting into the gravwell had been deliberate. As well as the mine field the final Sathor vessel was now exposed. The end game was now upon this battle. The Worthy's spindizzies were still uncharges, so she would not contribute for several tides, and the Sathor IV's damage would hopefully keep her running. Which means the Galahad and Mulgore would be up against the Sathor - the virgin design, equal to the Mulgore in every way.

These odds were still good, and the crews were more than hopeful.

Aboard the Galahad:

The next tide showed the crippled Sathor IV jumping out of the system. Only the Sathor was left.

The Worthy and Mulgore set upon the Sathor, drone after drone pummeling it. It was only a short time later that the Sathor gated out, the Mulgore were victorious!

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