Battle for Khilsiek: Resha-Kar Task Force

 

Senior Director Kalora clenched her fists as she fought the urge to fidget while waiting for the shuttle to dock with the station. The Resha-Dreadnought had jumped into Retaria in company with the Resha-Goliath, some Hakara-class merchant ships and a heavy escort. The Dreadnought was one of the handful of Avioki class cruisers Resha-Kar had acquired which could only mean a high ranking corporate executive was being transported. 

The shuttle airlock opened to reveal a familiar figure, Kalora hesitated slightly as he stepped on to the deck of the Alykent class station, but quickly gave the appropriate salute. He reached out a Wellington hand 

'Kalora!' he beamed 'How is my favourite daughter?' He asked

'Very well thank you papa' she managed

'Papa?' he said with a stern look 'The appropriate title would be Chief Operation Officer to you'

Kalora cast her eyes down in shame before looking up to roaring laughter.

'Stop looking so glum and show me round this station of yours'

Kalora had introduced her father to all the senior staff on the station and they had now retired to the stations executive suite. 

'Stop torturing me, papa' Kalora demanded once they were in private 'Why are you here?'

'I'm the Chief of Operations, I don't need to tell the likes of you why I've decided to go anywhere'

'Mama doesn't let you get away with talking to her like that, so neither will I, spit it out or you can have an unguided tour of the exterior of the station!

'Okay, okay' his face took on a more serious demeanor. 'I've come straight from a meeting between the Kroma and the senior executives of Resha-Kar. After much consideration, particularly given the strength of your report, we, no they, by majority vote, decided to not to action your recommendations'

'They've decided to fight? against the Earth Alliance? are they mad? we can't wi...' her father placed his finger on her lips.

'Kalora, you know you are my favourite daughter'

'Only daughter' she corrected

'That still makes you my favourite...' he continued 'The Kroma does not believe that the Earth Alliance is looking for this to escalate, they have been drawn into a civil war, and they want an exit strategy, once the..rebels, from their perspective, gain the upper hand, they will cut their losses and leave. your orders are to ensure that happens'

He handed her a data crystal. 'This contains your orders, our latest intelligence reports and a list of the forces we have at our disposal. there may be a few surprises for you...'

Retaria is a brown dwarf star and has an incredible abundance of valuable minerals. The Resha-Kar corporation was successful in staking their claim on the discovery, this was contested by the Earth Alliance and there have been several skirmishes between the Brakiri, Earth Alliance and at times, the Pak'ma'ra.

The Resha-Kar corporation was successfully able to defend their claim, but were taken by surprise when the ISA declared that Retaria was under the gravitational influence of the Khilsiek Star, and thus part of that stars system, and therefore under the control of the sovereign government, who were allies of the Earth Alliance....
After sponsoring various factions in Khilsiek, a civil war erupted, with Resha-Kar openly supporting one of the factions, this resulted in the first and second battles of Khilsiek. They were in truth only skirmishes, but were the largest combat encounters to ever take place in the system.
With growing rebel military strength, and a minor, but constant, stream of losses, the Earth Alliance has decided to assemble a task force to deal with the rebels, and the Brakiri, once and for all. Resha-Kar has decided to force the issue themselves, and there are rumours of the Pak'ma'ra becoming seriosuly involved, and a few sightings of Minbari ships. The stage for the battle for Khilsiek, and Retaria, is set.

Mustering the Task force

The Initial force being dispatched to Khilsiek by Resha-Kar comprises 31 ships in total, with a large number of them being Ak-Habil designs or derivatives.

The Resha-Dreadnought and Resha-Ultimate are the largest 'active' ships operated by Resha-Kar

The largest ships in the initial force are a pair of Avioki-class heavy cruisers. These are solid ships that are fairly unspectacular. their main feature is their powerful but slow loading beam weapon. on turns this weapon fires it can be devastating, but it can only do so every other turn.

Ak-Habil produce some outstanding ships

Backing this pair up, and likely to see more action are the Haliks and Haltonas. these are very good for their priority level, the Halik being a devastating escort ship, and the Haltona being an excellent gunboat with a potent beam weapon. the beam has the same advantages and disadvantages as that on the Avioki. 

Fresh out of refit, the Resha-Emissary and Resha-Caretaker are primed and ready to go

The other important ships are the pair of Brokados Battle Carriers they are far from the best carriers in the game, and Brakiri fighters are nothing special, but the earth alliance has swarms of fighters, and fighters can be lethal if given free reign to do what they want. It also has command +1 so my initiative in games it is used will be slightly better.

Light carriers are useful in a variety of situations, and the Ikorta hull is very versatile

Coming into the smaller ships now, the Brokados' are backed up by Brikorta light carriers. Like a lot of the Brakiri ships they are... below average, but they do have the ability to bring some fighter support to smaller games

Resha-Kar is not expecting to have to assault any static targets in the initial phase of the operation

I'm not expecting to have to assault any planets in the early game, but I brought an Ikorta just in case. This is probably the most efficient assault ship in the game. It brings a massive 12 troops on a skirmish level ship, that also has the atmospheric trait. I will bulk up the numbers as the campaign progresses, and if one becomes available I will supplement these with one or more Kabrokta

Scout ships can make all the difference in some battles.

Quite possibly the most useful against the Minbari are the Pair of Shakara scout cruisers. the scout ability, providing they have a high crew quality can be very very useful in overcoming stealth, and the Comms disruptor can pair very well with Graviton shifters which are present on a few Brakiri ships.

The Haltana is the best skirmish ship the Brakiri have by a long way. Its nice to have options though

The skirmish level ships are finished off with a pair of Mearkats, a pair of Blitsis, and 3 Haltanas. the Haltanas are official and the rest are fan rules, I've made sure I have the option of using non official ships if my opponent is ok with it, but I have the ships to use an 'official' force if they balk at the prospect. The Haltana is an absolutely outstanding ship. I'm on the fence as to whether it could knock the Vorchan off its pedestal. I will moderate the number of them i field, since their graviton shifters could be oppressive in large quantities.

The lightest ships can't stand up to much, but are useful for protecting the flanks of a force or the rear areas

To round out the force we have more unofficial ships, 4 Rakartas and 4 Kabriks. these are great for smaller games, otherwise I would have to field skirmish ships, or just fighters since the official Brakiri fleet list lacks patrol level ships.

Resha-Kar has procured a number of Alykent stations to be assembled in Khilsiek

I also have at my disposal an Alykent which I can build in the system if I want to, one should be enough for now. the planetary defences need to be finished as well.

Director Kalora had barely noticed her father leave the station. The orders and background material she had received had been shocking. All the major corporations, and the majority of the Kroma, were supporting Resha-Kar in their efforts to secure Retaria. The Kroma were not informed as to the reasons why Resha-Kar was looking for a small isolated system off the beaten track in the first place, but Khilsiek and the potential for weapon and other technology sales was very very attractive. With the support came certain benefits. All but the most modern and experimental ships and weapons were being made available, for a price, which would make this operation the first time since the Dilgar war where the ships of the major corporations, if not the crews, would be acting under a single unified command.

'I could write the book on Brakiri fleet tactics and strategy' she murmured. Her staff didn't notice as they busied themselves with their own tasks.

'I see they took the Soultender out of mothballs, I thought she'd been scrapped...' she spoke out loud.

Intelligence reports from the Resha-Vanguard and Resha-Spooky made interesting reading, and they had even managed to get personnel files on all the Earth Force captains.

'Team Leader Nalek, put the astrogation data up on the holo display, and when we get the latest updates from our scouts, forward the information to me'

Kalora was in her element as she planned for the weeks and months ahead.

STL's by Tyrel Lohr
Miniatures painted by me

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