UGT (Unified Galactic Time): 19th Revol (July) 280 a.G.A. (after Galactic Armistace) / 5:29 p.m.
Location: KBF (Kaiserliche Flottenbastion) Hohenkranz, Felsmark system (yellow dwarf), (Outer-)Noran Principality, Kingdom of Ferron, Milky Way
Admiral Johann von Kr?henfels had honestly grown too used to commanding ships in space. For a long time, he hadn't been forced to participate in a political event, not with the war against the Federation ongoing. Now, in the silence of the council chamber, he only hoped his skills in politicking hadn't grown too rusty over the years.
The chamber aboard the battle station KFB Hohenkranz overlooked the Felsmark system's primary world, a blue-green sphere wrapped in defensive rings and restless traffic. The view should have been reassuring, but after what had happened in the Schwarzfels system it certainly wasn't.
Three noble representatives stood opposite him; their robes trimmed in the colors of Houses that had stood with his family’s dukedom for centuries. With frozen expressions they watched the recording of the FSF Aurora opening fire on civilian ships and how he had made the decision to jump out of the system, effectively abandoning the civilians he had tried to evacuate. Of course, said footage had leaked to the public near-instantly afte reaching the system as well, no matter what the official orders he had given to his fleet were.
“Explain,” Baroness Anessa von Tressen said coldly.
Admiral von Kr?henfels took his eyes off the recording and instead looked at her. "As you can clearly see the FSF Aurora suddenly appeared far earlier than she should have, somehow jumping through the entire system in hyperspace, giving us not even a warning of her appearance. Then Captain Lunaris apparently ordered her crew to open fire at our civilian ships."
“It was your orders that led them there,” another noble cut in. “And then you chose to withdraw instead of taking on a single ship, even if it may be a Super Battleship. A disgrace, that's what it is.”
“I chose,” Admiral von Kr?henfels replied, trying his best to keep his temper in check that flared up at the noble’s words, “to avoid a decisive engagement I could not win while evacuating tens of thousands of civilians. Any alternative would have cost far more lives and most likely led to the Federation easily pushing past us and all the way to my family’s ducal seat. Would any of you have preferred that?”
“Obviously not,” Baroness von Tressen said, voice sharp as drawn steel. "Nonetheless, civilian lives were lost to the Federation in what's clearly a war crime and the public is up in arms about it. Riots have broken out everywhere and we have the entire system under martial law, but panic still spreads. Everyone thinks that should the fleet retreat again or fail, they're next. And few still believe in your chances of winning the incoming battle, Admiral."
Following that, the silence stretched. He of course knew that, though he was of a different opinion. Although it would be a hard fight, with everything he had prepared he was sure he could achieve victory. The other nobles simply weren't military strategists, they were politicians. They first and foremost thought about how to undermine him and his house, or alternatively how to best curry favor. And they would certainly all flee the moment the Federation fleet entered the system.
But worst of all was that he had easily made himself a political pariah. By fleeing he had abandoned the very values the Kaiserliche Flotte stood for. He had abandoned his people, let his pride get the better of him by not calling for enough help from the remaining Dukedom, and damaged the national pride of Ferron in their own capabilities by fleeing without a fight.
He could accept that he had been too prideful in not asking for more support. He had deliberately not informed his father or the capital of what was going on, knowing they would've instantly replaced him with another Admiral. And he had wanted the glory for himself. It had been a bad decision as he could acknowledge by now, but it was too late now. He was the only chance left at stopping the Federation advance without risking the stability of his father's entire dukedom.
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“The Federation has given us a narrative advantage,” Admiral von Kr?henfels explained to the three nobles. “They fired upon civilians, that fact stands undisputed. We will not dilute it with exaggeration. Nor will we allow internal division to weaken our response.”
“You actually intend to fight here,” Baroness von Tressen said in realization.
“I intend to drive them off,” he corrected. "There will be no winning, not with the forces at our disposal. But we should be able to drive the Federation fleet out of the system again before amassing enough forces for a counterattack."
A counterattack that he knew he would not be allowed to lead, but if he held of the Federation here, it should at least alleviate the damage his reputation had taken. He had no illusions of still winning anything from his gamble, but he hopefully could make sure it didn't overly damage his career either.
“You know you will have our support,” Baroness von Tressen replied at last. “But understand this, Admiral. If Felsmark falls, so does your House. That is undisputable at this point."
He inclined his head. “I am aware. But I know what I must do.”
Without another word he left, knowing he had a battle to prepare for. It didn't take too long for him to reach the tactical command deck of the KFB Hohenkranz, a system projection sprawling across the sizeable main screen.
Felsmark was one of the most defensible systems in his father’s Dukedom. Two habitable planets orbited the system’s inner band, each encircled by primary orbital defense stations like the one he stood on, Battleship-sized structures armed with heavy railgun batteries, armored torpedoes, fusion missiles and plasma cannons. Hardened armor and independent fusion cores, together with UV-Lasers, Flak-Batteries and Sentinel Point Defenses ensured that no single strike would cripple them, their only major weakness being the lesser range compared to what the FSF Aurora had demonstrated. Luckily the same didn't go for the remaining Federation fleet.
That was of course not everything he had prepared for the Federation's arrival. Across the entire system floated a web of secondary battle stations, some as big as a Cruiser. The hyperlane exit point was bracketed with torpedo stations and inactive missiles just waiting for the signal to start up their engines. Multiple asteroid clusters in the systems asteroid ring housed long-range railgun arrays with pre-calibrated firing solutions. Even some electromagnetic discharges he had hidden in vectors he suspected the Federation would use when trying to bring him into battle.
That was the reason why it was so hard to actually push an enemy back once they were warned and fortified their already defensible systems even more. A properly prepared defense could trump an attacking force of the same size in pretty much all cases. And the federation had given him weeks to prepare his stand in the Felsmark system.
Around the height of the asteroid ring, his fleet of by now 52 warships stood in waiting as well. He had debated using them to create a proper killing zone around the hyperlane exit point but had decided against it. They could always send out an unimportant scout first, and if the FSF Aurora jumped in next, his planned and hopefully devastating first strike could easily end with him losing most of his fleet in moments. It was not worth the risk.
His fleet was further enhanced by civilian hulls like fuel tenders and freighters, converted into makeshift warships by slapping a missile station or two on them. Some were also used as mine layers, drone carriers, or even just targets to soak up incoming damage. With all his preparation, Admiral von Kr?henfels was sure he could come out on top.
Admiral von Kr?henfels gestured to one of the battle station’s officers, and red spheres illuminated the hyperlane exit that the Federation would be forced to use. It was by all standards incredibly small, meaning the Federation would have to jump in in two waves instead of just one. That gave him his opening.
It was unlikely that his first opening strike would cripple the Federation enough to pull back, not if the FSF Aurora was part of the first wave of Federation ships jumping into the system, which was what he suspected. But their route to the habitable planets would be bloody, and by then he was sure he could force them to turn tail and retreat.
It would serve as his proof that Ferron space could not be entered without cost and that the ducal House of Kr?henfels still commanded strength and respect. And it would serve as his revenge for what Captain Lunaris had done as well.
