Persei-Aries War Resumes
Intercept Enemy Reinforcement Covoy
In the wake of their recent (and bloody) victory Battle of Kinkaid III, repair work continues on the heavier American warships of Task Forces Liberty and Oriskany (creatively nicknamed TF “Lib-Skany” by the poets among the crews). On the surface of Kinkaid’s Outpost, meanwhile, ground-pounders of 2nd Battalion / 5th Marines are able to finally break the deadlock around the Kinkaid III colony, assisted in no small regard by the American naval victory in orbit overhead and the subsequent orbital support missions mounted by the destroyer USS Oriskany and other ships of the task force.
All the same, it soon becomes apparent that the Black Dragons are also mounting determined efforts to tip the balance of this ongoing battle in their favor.
On 28 May, while on long-range perimeter sweep, the torpedo corvette USS Daggerfish comes upon an incoming Black Dragon troop and supply convoy on a high-speed “ghost trajectory” toward Kinkaid’s Outpost. This is a common tactic for in-system naval operations, where a battlegroup or task force sets a low-speed, low-profile Darkstar dilation into the inner orbital zones of a system, then “ghosts” through normal space in a powered-down glide, hoping to avoid detection. What tips the Americans, however, is the sheer size of this new force – two light cruisers, four destroyers, and three frigates, all screening a host of troop ships, freighters, tankers, and other vessels for the support and reinforcement of the wilting Black Dragon beachhead at the Kinkaid III surface colony. The upgraded sensors and veteran crew of the Daggerfish certainly helped matters, along with no small amount of good old-fashioned luck when it comes to American patrols and detection efforts.
Other aspects of the American situation remain less cheerful. For the most part, Task Force Liberty remains laid up in orbital repair yards. Only the frigate Ronald Evans stands ready to join Rear-Admiral Spencer’s Task Force Oriskany. Even Spencer’s own force remains less than complete, as USS Princeton, replacement for the ill-fated Hancock, is only just arriving in system and is still fitting-out and doesn’t yet have anything like a full crew aboard.
Thus, Spencer has only the destroyers USS Oriskany, Valley Forge, the light carrier Tarawa, the frigate Ronald Evans, and the torpedo corvette Daggerfish to head off two Greater Xhia class light cruisers, four Sovnya class destroyers, and three Zhenhai class frigates. In all, Spencer is outweighed about 2.5:1 (approximately 475,000 tons vs. 175,000 tons). But this reinforcement convoy must be stopped, or the Americans could lose all the progress they have made in the bloody – and still undecided – ground battle of Kinkaid III.
The two sides detect each other at relatively long range, allowing both task forces plenty of time to vector toward “Stonepointe,” the sole terrestrial moon of Kinkaid’s Outpost, each commander hoping to use the moon to their own tactical advantage. The Black Dragons, clearly, hope to leverage their advantages in numbers and heavy gunnery … the Americans hopefully countering with experience, heavily-upgraded ships, and the aerospace carrier striking power. The battle will most like be won by the side that somehow gets their enemy to fight their preferred form of engagement.
The match up for the battle. The Black Dragons have much heavier ships, and many more of them. The Americans, meanwhile, are faster, more tactically nimble, and have a whole portfolio of insane technology, experience, and leadership bonuses. Basically this is a task force of elite badasses against a fleet of oafish giants. But if the oafish giants get too close ...
The point balance for the scenario. Another American advantage is a light carrier, in the form of the coverted planetary assault ship USS Tarawa.
The Black Dragons make a very slow, very cautious approach, hiding behind the curvature of the Stonepointe moon and hoping to draw the Americans into a closer-range gun duel, not to mention into the range of the P-500 and Tsing Tao torpedo arrays. The Americans oblige, staying just behind the curvature as well, using the extra time to launch and position the Tarawa’s FS/A-81 “Avenger” torpedo bombers.
The Americans emerge from cover, making a decelerating turn around the moon's curvature. Spencer takes mortal care with his velocity, ensuring he retains speed to overshoot the broadsides of the Black Dragon fleet, yet not moving too fast to wind up in the enemy’s full forward torpedo arc. The Black Dragons greet the move, but only their forward guns can fire at a range of 2900 kilometers ... everything targeting on the smallest, most weakly-shielded ship ... the frigate Ronald Evans. Fortune smiles on the Americans, however, and everything misses! For their part, the Americans open fire as well, but at this range only Oriskany and Valley Forge can reach, and only with their forward guns as well. Hits are landed on the frigate Hanchi, burning out her forward hangar. Both sides launch torpedoes and Tarawa completes the launch of her aerospace group, most notably F/S-44 Star Corsair fighters of Marine Corps strike squadron VMF/A-391 (Tigersharks). 
The Black Dragons continue to hedge themselves against the moon, hoping to cover their sterns against the expected American mass torpedo / aerospace strike. The Americans respond with a wide fishhook to port, "keeping the rock off their bow" as the expression goes, presenting broadsides against the Black Dragons' starboard bows without inviting a broadside in return (at least from the enemy's light cruisers). American torpedoes go in. The Mark 48s from the Ronald Evans, Valley Forge, Daggerfish are all short down. But all those from Tarawa and Oriskany hit the shields. All six of Oriskany's torpedoes slam into the port bow of the Shanyin, three of them landing perfectly against the armor protecting her bridge. Decapitated, the Greater Xhia class light cruiser slews out of line, dead in space, her conning tower wreathed in the flames of escaping atmosphere. Tarawa's torpedoes hit the Tang Na, smashing out her starboard side torpedo array. An instant later comes the Tigersharks’ aerospace strike, the fighters blowing up Tang Na's magazine. The bombers don’t do nearly as well, almost half the warheads shot down by Black Dragon scouts. Only one further hit is registered in the Tang Na. The Black Dragon torpedo strike comes in. Even after careful American maneuvering has prevented many of their banks from firing, the volume of the swarm is impressive. The Americans shoot down an amazing 34 warheads in all, but that still leaves 30 to impact against American shields. Most are going for the Daggerfish, whose enhanced shielding and EW suites shrugs off all the warheads. One comes desperately close, however .... and it would only take one P-500 to blow her clean out of the battle. American luck runs out at last when the Black Dragon guns open fire. The Oriskany takes three hard hits on her starboard quarter from the 7gw rail guns of the Black Dragon cruisers (the Shanyin landing a hit an instant before Oriskany all but vaporized her bridge), losing sensors, maneuvering thrusters, and a mass driver position. The Russian-built destroyers open up, scoring more hits that take out her troop bay and aft hangar, as well as lighting fires in Oriskany’s starboard reactor room. Plasma projectors are next, knocking down the starboard quarter shields and setting the portside reactor room afire as well. The Oriskany returns fire, all her rail guns and both syglex emitters hitting home on the damaged Tang Na. Her hit placement isn't quite as good as it was with her torpedoes, however, and although Oriskany hits the bridge and sets it on fire, she doesn't quite knock it out. The task then falls to the Valley Forge, who fires her forward 5gw rail guns into the Tang Na's conning tower and finally cripples the second enemy light cruiser. The rest of the American guns (not a terribly impressive battery to be honest) target the destroyer Antonova, but only sensors and maneuvering thrusters are damaged. Aboard the Oriskany, a frantic battle rages against the fires in both reactor rooms. The fire is put out in the port reactor room, and the fire in the starboard reactor is at least brought under control for now. The Oriskany remains operational, if terribly damaged.
The Black Dragon destroyers and frigates continue to "slip stream" along the moon's curvature, now trying to present multiple broadsides and torpedo arcs so the Americans (their ships more maneuverable, their crews much more experienced) won't be able to avoid all Black Dragon broadsides. Spencer orders a gentle S-turn to port, edging away from the enemy and keeping the range open at just over 1000 kilometers. The Oriskany also rolls, her 49,000 ton hull actually slinging molten metal from her starboard quarter as she does. The Tarawa recovers her bombers to rearm for another strike, while her fighters and scouts take up station to cover Oriskany, doubtless about to be the target of a vengeful Black Dragon torpedo strike. The second American torpedo spread is much reduced (fired when they were presenting broadside), and the Black Dragons shoot down nearly all of the warheads in their compacted, mutually-supporting formation. Two torpedoes from the Oriskany still hit the frigate Fengzhou, smashing out two engines and aft mass drivers, leaving her crippled and adrift. Unfortunately, the Black Dragons' torpedoes are also coming in, targeting the wounded Oriskany - specifically her opened and unshielded starboard quarter. No less than 44 warheads are coming in. The mass driver defense is ferocious (even with Oriskany's damaged sensors), accounting for 32. Tigershark fighters account for seven more, scouts for five. That is just enough to stop them all ... but not the fifteen Black Dragon scouts also coming in. The strafing attack of these light craft, mostly Russian-made Su- 107 “Molniya” (Lightning) scouts, normally poses little threat. But with her shields down, and reactors and engine rooms exposed ... it seems time has run out for the “Lady O” – especially when the rest of the Black Dragon fleet opens with every gun on her port quarter. Finally, Spencer has no choice but to evacuate engineering and vent it to space, ejecting his reactors to save the ship. The Oriskany goes dark and is set adrift. American gunnery responds with a combined broadside on the frigate Guangning. Their aim isn't as sharp this time, and the bow-on angle isn't the best, nevertheless after enduring the last salvo from the Oriskany and a full broadside from the Valley Forge, the Ronald Evans puts a 9tv EPC bolt through the bridge, crippling the ship. 
Assuming command aboard the Tarawa, Captain Raymond Cruz loops the American fleet around to port, now presenting portside torpedo banks (starboard arrays are almost empty) and rearming his Avenger torpedo bombers in Tarawa's hangar bays. The Black Dragons consolidate their five remaining warships, again trying to present broadsides and torpedo arcs ... again failing thanks to Cruz's skillful maneuvering (also taking care to keep American ships safe from possible collision with the Stonepointe moon). A fourth wave of Black Dragon torpedoes are all shot down by American mass drivers, fighters and scouts. Three American torpedoes hit the destroyer Beleshyvko, but their impacts scatter across her port quarter and she weathers the damage, save maneuvering thrusters and a mass driver turret. Black Dragon gunnery is more successful, the Chernyova landing one rail gun hit and the frigate Hanchi landing both an EPC and laser on the corvette Daggerfish - hitting the bridge and knocking the little corvette out of the battle. Here is where Cruz’s careful positioning comes into play … although her drift trajectory is curved by the Stonepointe’s gravity, Daggerfish avoids crashing into the moon and will eventually be recovered.
Cruz turns toward the Black Dragons in a broad port turn, presenting broadsides from the Valley Forge and Evans while launching bombers for the Tarawa. He also gambles with the fighters of Marine strike wing, sending in the F/S-44 Star Corsairs in a strafing run on the damaged Beleshyvko. If the Marines take too much defensive fire, at least they'll be clearing the way for the combined torpedo strike from the American warships and bombers. Sure enough, seven of the ten Corsairs are shot down, and the three that remain fail to cripple the Beleshyvko in their strafing run (although they do manage to knock down the manage to knock down the destroyer’s port quarter shields). Perhaps more importantly, they have drawn all the enemy's mass driver fire, clearing the way for the bombers and torpedoes. The bombers knock out the frigate Hanchi, the torpedoes from the Tarawa, Valley Forge, and Evans finally manage to cripple the Antonova. American gunnery hammers the Beleshyvko, knocking down sensors and another shield, although return fire from these Sovnya-class destroyers winds up hitting the bridge of the Ronald Evans, leaving the ship crippled and adrift.
With only the Valley Forge and the empty light carrier Tarawa facing them, the Black Dragons smell blood in the water and charge with their three remaining destroyers up toward the Americans. Cruz sees the move, however, and immediately accelerates, ordering a sharp S-turn to port and sidestepping the Black Dragons’ charge. As they were powering away from the moon, however, the Black Dragons released a truly withering hail of torpedoes, all aimed squarely at the Valley Forge's stern. Captain Garrison Heathe makes the brave decision to ignore them, trusting in his upgraded shielding, ECM, and fighter protection, instead shooting all his mass drivers at the Black Dragon scouts that just tried to engage the Marine bombers trying to get back to the Tarawa. The gamble pays off ... no P-500s get through the Valley Forge's defenses. Eleven Black Dragon scouts are shot down, and no Marine bombers are lost. American fortune had been fading with the loss of Oriskany, Daggerfish, and Evans, but now seems to return with a vengeance. Some of their last torpedoes are sent in a spread toward the destroyer Chernyova, and even as all of Valley Forge's torpedoes are shot down, all of Tarawa's get through. Two of her warheads ping off Chernyova’s shields, but two get through and hit both port and starboard engines, leaving the ship crippled and adrift. Simultaneously, Valley Forge opens up her broadside on the unshielded port bow of the inverted destroyer Beleshyvko, hitting the bridge multiple times, all but tearing the conning tower clean off the superstructure. Black Dragon gunfire, however, remains vicious, skilled, and determined. Although Valley Forge was able to avoid almost all enemy broadsides, Tarawa was not ... and even as destroyers Chernyova and Beleshyvko were being shot and torpedoes to bits, their 7gw rail guns and 40kg plasma projectors were hammer away at the Tarawa. Aft hangar bays are gone, along with two maneuvering thrusters, sensors, two mass driver mounts, and port quarter shields. Limping and ablaze, the Tarawa remains operational ... although records also show a rather “brisk” discussion on the bridge about whether Tarawa should raise steam to disengage at flank speed. 
The last Black Dragon destroyer, Dachiko, throws her rudder hard over, making a hair-pin acceleration turn to starboard. Her skipper knows the Americans want to open the range of the engagement and is determined not to allow it, especially given the massive damage suffered to the Tarawa. The Tarawa and Valley Forge likewise accelerate, turning to port, not breaking off the battle but definitely trying to keep the range open and not offer the Dachiko any broadsides. The very last American torpedoes go for the Dachiko. All but one are shot down by the Dachiko or the remaining Black Dragon scouts, the last one is absorbed by the destroyer's shields. More problematic are the ten P-500 warheads streaking toward the Tarawa, particularly her burning and unshielded port quarter. The Valley Forge is right behind her, turning to starboard again to cover Tarawa as best she can, along with remaining Marine fighters and scouts. Fortunately, the Valley Forge mass driver gunners have had their coffee this morning, and the last Black Dragon torpedo attack is soon broken up with the help of Tarawa and her surviving Corsair fighters and E/S-101 “Hawkeye” scouts. Dachiko opens fire with her forward guns at 1400 kilometers, hoping for just a few lucky hits on Tarawa's stern. One hit is scored, but at this range the Tarawa's armor shrugs it off.
At last, the battle is over. All remaining ships are now completely out of torpedoes. The last Black Dragon destroyer Dachiko faces an undamaged Valley Forge, Marine fighters and bombers (against which is has virtually no aerospace cover), and thousands of comrades adrift in crippled and burning warships. Those bombers could also go for the unprotected troop ships and freighters, along with the USS Valley Forge herself, who is actually faster than the Dachiko and could easily maneuver around her if she doesn’t break off now. The reinforcement convoy is thus recalled, save two freighters who jettison their cargo to make room for rescue and recovery efforts. The Americans also have their hands full. The Oriskany’s damage control parties soon have the fires out and the ship technically under her own power, although she can do little more than limp slowly back to the orbital shipyards of Kinkaid’s Outpost, covered by the similarly-limping Tarawa and her handful of surviving fighters. The Valley Forge soon has the Ronald Evans in tow, while one of her cutters lands on Stonepointe to rescue fighter pilots who managed to eject and soft-land on the moon’s airless surface. The problem is the Daggerfish. Although her initial drift trajectory barely cleared her of Stonepointe, the gravity slingshot hurled the derelict corvette deep into interplanetary space, and it takes no less than three days for cutters from the Oriskany, Valley Forge, Tarawa, and Evans to find her. Even after the cutters dock with her and couple their reactors to Daggerfish’s engines, it is found those couplings are damaged, so the cutters have to initially tow the 12,200-ton corvette back toward Stonepointe. In the end, it takes almost a week for the Daggerfish to make it back to Kinkaid’s Outpost. The outcome of the clash at Stonepointe is far-reaching. The Americans have won a clear but bloody victory, turning back the Black Dragon effort to reinforce and resupply their besieged beachhead at the Kinkaid Three colony. Thus, 2nd Battalion / 5th Marines can continue their steady reduction of the position, their situation further improved when the light cruiser USS Northampton and light fleet carrier USS Liberty are finally back on station, providing an exponential upgrade in the volume and quality of orbital and aerospace fire support. Suffice it to say the Black Dragons at Kinkaid III quickly find themselves in a very bad situation. 
Brilliant as ever. A very entertaining and ‘edge of the seat’ battle report. Look forward to the next one.
Thanks very much, @gremlin ! I’ve only been posting these battle reports occasionally on OTT, I need to get more consistent if people are still interested.
We also have a Darkstar discussion page on our Sitrep Podcast Discord, if you’re ever interested:
https://discord.gg/hbHHD5Mcbg
Been super busy with work and getting things in motion to head back to the UK. Finally had a chance to read this battle report. I might even get a look in on the discord channel again one day!