Plot Log | "The Battle of Sigma Ceti" (Part 1)

Posted on 241410.01 @ 11:36pm by Fleet Admiral Kerry Malone

= 1st Fleet =

The fleets had dispersed, heading to their intended destinations as the plans of weeks prior had outlined. The chaos sewn by the Vanguard had caused enough of a distraction to allow the combined Starfleet and Klingon attack forces to proceed virtually unchallenged into Federation space. Now the fleets had diverged, each heading to a different target. Vulcan. Andor. Tellar Prime. Alpha Centari.

Sol.

The 1st Fleet comprised of one hundred and forty seven ships of various sizes, classes and event nationality - as the Klingon Defence Force augmented Starfleet's numbers considerably. The other fleets were not as large as this, with everything being thrown at Earth - with Malone's reasoning being that Sol would be the best defended target.

The man himself stood impassive in the CiC of the Ticonderoga - receiving tactical information as they proceeded apace. He knew, with a certainty, that the UFP were finished - but they were by no means out, and Hutchins would not go down without a fight. He had calculated that Hutchins wouldn't care about the outlying core systems, he would focus his attention on protecting his own ass on Earth.

The gamble was whether he would send a force to intercept the fleet, or hold all his cards back for a final confrontation in Sol Space. He couldn't do both, and splitting what little remained of his forces would not be tactically savvy. But then, Malone mused, he wasn't that. He'd shown an uncanny knack for doing the wrong thing, and promoting the wrong people into positions of command. He'd already executed his replacement as Fleet Admiral, and had assumed the CinCship for himself - a bold move.

But what would Hutchins decide to do, given that he had all the military skill of a baked potato.

"Admiral, long range sensors are detecting a UFP force up ahead in blockade formation in the Sigma Ceti system." One of the Strategic Operations officers reported, and updated the massive holo-display in the centre of the CiC to show the astrometrics feed with UFP symbols over a large collection of ships, and white names appeared next to them. "Looks like a force of about sixty seven starships, sir."

"So - the President made a decision." Malone said, smiling. "Very well, disseminate this information to the command ships of the five wings."

He'd anticipated most of the possible outcomes, and this was one of them. Sigma Ceti was on a direct course from Klingon space to Sol, and this was the most logical place to hold a stand-off, as the natural radiation in the planetary bodies could provide a tactical advantage, if played properly. Malone had considered that Hutchins might make this play, and had devised a couple of strategies to handle it.

"Signal the flagships of the wings, inform them we'll be proceeding with attack pattern Malone Three." The Commander-in-Chief instructed.

"Andrea, Dombarton, Pegasus, Triumph and H'Toch acknowledge signal, Admiral." The StratOps officer replied. "Forces diverging."

The strategy was a very simple one. Malone was faced with two attack strategies, and any smart field commander could see it. He could either bring his entire force in, in one go - and drive a hammer blow through the enemy, and scatter what wasn't destroyed in the onslaught. This strategy was flawed, in the Fleet Admiral's opinion, as it allowed the enemy to get behind him as he advanced onto Sol, and possibly reform and attack his exposed flank at a critical time.

The second obvious attack strategy, was to surround the system, and attack in a spread-out fashion. This was more effective, but it was also time consuming. However, it would ensure that no enemy ships broke free, and would all be forced to surrender or die. The flaw with this strategy was that it exposed his entire line, and any holes would allow exploits.

Thereby, Malone had decided to consider a third 'out of the box' strategy, based entirely on the terrain of the engagement. He'd anticipated that Sigma Ceti would be the place of a final stand - and had studied the astrometical data for the system. It was uninhabited, as it contained no inhabitable worlds. Most of the planets were harsh Class H worlds, surrounded with large Class J and Class T gas giants. The gas giants had celestial rings that produced copiuous amounts of radiation, around the White Dwarf Binary star in the centre of the system.

Malone would bring his wing, which consisted of a large part of the total fleet, out into the system. Knowing that the enemy's sensors were blinded by the radiation, they would not detect the other wings. He then instructed two of the wings to approach the enemy from the east and west of the enemy formations, and two more from above and beneath the formation - taking full advantage of the three-dimensions of space. The last formation would hide in Sigma Ceti's radiation belt, and consisting mostly of attack escort class starships - would ride in as a reserve force - and punish the enemy ships from all four axis of attack.

"Approaching Sigma Ceti, Admiral." Came a report from one of his CiC personnel.

"Malone to Ticonderoga Wing, drop out of warp on my mark." He said, as he watched the kilometers count down rapidly. "Mark!"

The stately Magellen class dropped out of warp eighty KM's from the enemy fleet, and all his Wing's ships dropped in around his ship, forming a wall of vessels to greet the UFP forces.

"Sir, we're being hailed by the UFP Flagship." The communications specialist reported. "Vice Admiral Targus for you."

"On main viewer." Malone ordered.

The viewer activated, showing the smug face of the human Admiral, who was clearly in his late thirties, and much too young to be a Vice Admiral. Clearly attrition was high in the new Starfleet Command, if this force was being lead by someone who would normally be a Commander, or a junior Captain.

"Admiral Malone, we finally meet." The sneer of the man was somewhat offensive to the Fleet Admiral.

"I can't say its a pleasure, Targus." Malone said, as he looked through his library files, and found the man's service record. Prior to the purge, he'd been a Lieutenant Commander in the Shipyard Operations Division. A fairly unimpressive service jacket, but he had been working with Starfleet Intelligence for a spell, making sure that specialised Intelligence equipment was installed correctly on specific ships. "Vice Admiral eh? What's the matter, didn't Hutchin's have enough pips to make you a full Admiral?"

Targus smirked. "At least he appreciates my skills and talents. Your Starfleet never did."

"My Starfleet appreciated you for your true worth, Targus." Malone replied, calmly. "Which, according to your records, wasn't particularly valuable. I'll have to review the promotions process when I get back home, clearly someone made an administrative error in making you a Lieutenant Commander."

Targus snarled at that comment, and bit back. "At least I didn't run away with my tail tucked between my legs at the first sign of a fight."

"No, I'll give you that. You're still here. More's the pity really. I do so dislike the mistreatment of lower intelligence lifeforms." Malone sighed.

That got Targus even more rattled, which was pretty much what Malone was trying to do. Unseat the fleet commander, into making a mistake through bravado. "We'll see who's the better Admiral, Malone."

"Yes, we will. The rapidly promoted deck-hand, or the professionally trained flag officer of twenty years experience. I do so wonder how this is going to turn out. Good luck, Targus." Malone replied, and closed the channel.

"What now, Admiral?" Captain Gomez asked, who was the senior StratOps officer in the room, and nominally, the one who'd take over in here if the Admiral went down.

"Now, Andreas, we give our upstart Admiral an education in how a real Admiral commands a fleet action." Malone smiled. "Instruct all ships to engage the enemy."

= To be continued... =

Fleet Admiral Kerry Malone
Starfleet Commander-in-Chief
Admiral Commanding, 1st Fleet
UCIP

OOC: Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the beginning of the beginning of the end of the Civil War!