Briefing on Colonial Naval Logistical and Strategic Deficiencies

The Colonial Independence Navy has proven to be a formidable adversary despite its numerical inferiority. Though the CIN has deployed a variety of innovative systems, these systems are almost all intended to make up for weaknesses in their current line of battle. While the imbalance of industrial capacity between Earth and the colonies is one of the greatest handicaps the CIN suffers from, there are others that are almost as crippling. These weaknesses likely stem from the fact that the colonies are not a united polity and are more a loose coalition or confederation with a shared goal ***REDACTED***of political and economic independence from Earth***ENDREDACTION***.

It was once said that an army marches on its stomachs. This is as true today for space campaigns as it was back when battles were purely terrestrial. Trade between the colonies was heavily dependent on the various shipping corporations based on Earth, meaning the majority of freighters that serviced this trade was also owned by Earth based interests. When the colonies rebelled they managed to seize a sizable percentage of these freighters but others were able to escape back to Earth. In addition, many of the seized freighters, especially the massive Kodiak super freighters, were converted into warships to supplement the colonies' few capital ships. This blew massive holes in available shipping and the ripple effect has been that the colonies have struggled to coordinate the creation of a proper fleet train to supply their combined naval forces. The severity of this problem was compounded by the colonial strategy of trying to seize strategic fold points to deny their usage as invasion corridors by the UNE, forcing the CIN to conduct campaigns across massive distances.

The lack of a reliable logistical network has meant the CIN is often unable to press its advantage after an initial victory. The fall of Foldpoint 1138 is one of several instances where the CIN achieved a major strategic victory but could not follow up on it until after the UNE had already recovered and could blunt further moves. This situation is slowly changing as the CIN has started establishing supply depots closer to the front lines. There is substantial risk to this however as a successful UNE raid could cripple multiple CIN units in a sector, though the Colonials seem willing to commit enough resources to defend these depots against anything short of a major assault. The length of the conflict has given the Colonials time to learn from their mistakes and adjust accordingly, but the fundamental imbalance of industrial power means there are many opportunities for the UNE to inflict serious damage should the necessary forces be committed.

Another great strategic weakness of the CIN is their lack of a dedicated intelligence gathering apparatus. As a result, there is a certain inconsistency in the quality of data Colonial officers have when planning operations, even taking into account the relative unpredictability of intelligence work. ***REDACTED***Because the Colonials do not have a coordinated intelligence network, to gather intel for major operations they are often forced to intensify scouting efforts beforehand. This upsurge of activity has proven to be a reliable indicator for an impending attack and provides UNE forces with the opportunity to reinforce intended targets.***ENDREDACTION***

One area where the Colonials have proven competent is in signals localization. Due to the nature of FTL comms, it is fairly straightforward to determine the origin and destination of transmissions. This allows Colonial forces in the field to track to some extent UNE movement in their vicinity and combined with the CIN's skill at operating independently allows them to avoid detection by patrols. Communications discipline has been tightened considerably over the course of the war however and more randomized patrol patterns have somewhat mitigated these issues, but it remains a point field officers should remain mindful of.

The last strategic weakness the CIN suffers from is the lack of a proper, universal training regimen for new recruits. For years training was handled by the individual colonial militias with extremely uneven results. This forces the CIN to retrain many recruits once they are aboard ship and lengthens the time it takes for new ships to fully work up. This also complicates Colonial efforts to replace casualties.

As with the other weaknesses, the Colonials have worked doggedly to address the problem. The first visible result of this was the Black Fleet, composed of the Colonial elites but also drawing on the first wave of recruits that underwent a new standardized training program. The effectiveness of the Black Fleet cannot be disputed and should the Colonies succeed in expanding this training program to all their worlds, the overall efficiency of their forces will almost certainly see marked improvement. To do this however, the Colonials need to survive long enough to implement the program on a wide scale and prevent the UNE from disrupting them.

The Colonials have proven to be tenacious and highly motivated opponents, often able to work around their weaker strategic positions. If the UNE can reduce the effectiveness of such workarounds however, the position of the CIN will be considerably more precarious.

Captain Lorenzo Kraft

Director, Economic Analysis

Office of Naval Intelligence, United Nations of Earth

Chapter 2: In Fire Bathed

"Alright, it's time to kick some Unie ass!" Radek said boisterously, grinning as he watched the resigned reactions of his bridge crew.

They were all highly competent officers with more than a measure of patience considering on whose staff all of them served on. More than one actually felt a certain degree of relief at their admiral's enthusiasm though none would ever reveal it. After all, none wanted to encourage Radek in his bad habits.

All of the officers including Radek were already in suits and the atmosphere was vented from the outer compartments. At least this way explosions would have little oxygen to further fuel them and might buy precious moments for the crew to get hull breaches and hits under control. Not all battles were fought with such preparation but when there was time to prepare there was no excuse not to take advantage of it.

"Fold signature!"

On the plot, a massive splotch of red spread out. Tags appeared over the larger of the individual contacts but even then there were so many they overlapped and thoroughly obscured each other. The situation only grew worse as a flood of new, smaller signals emerged from the larger ones.

"CIC estimates two hundred plus capital ships!"

"About what we expected," Radek said. "I suppose there's not even any point counting their light craft."

Clumps began separating from the larger fleet and vectored towards Radek's position. An entire wing of fighters and bombers was bearing down upon his small fleet and would easily swamp his meager numbers. Radek watched the incoming UNE ships but betrayed little concern. The corvettes were already vectoring in for their launches and he had other surprises waiting for the fighters and bombers.

"Pass the word and telemetry to Captain Cooper," Radek ordered.

"Aye sir, transmitting now."

"Corvettes report readiness for alpha launch," another officer reported.

"Engage," Radek said simply.

Thousands of kilometers away, the seemingly incoherent scattering of corvettes unleashed their torpedoes. The range they fired from was just barely inside a torpedo drive's endurance and a casual observer might have been confused as to what was happening. The crew of the UNE vessels and their computer systems were not causal however and quickly discerned the pattern. Despite being scattered so widely, the corvettes had coordinated their launch such that all their torpedoes would reach their targets at approximately the same time. Because of the dispersed nature of the launch however the interceptors screening the UNE fleet would have to cover a large volume of space or wait until they were much closer in and much more concentrated before attempting to shoot them down. The opposing admiral seemed to adopt a half and half approach as squadrons moved out to specific volumes while other squadrons remained concentrated close to their charges. But even as they responded, the corvettes finished maneuvering into formation for their bravo launch and another salvo was soon unleashed.

"Additional fighter launches detected," came the report. "They're vectoring to engage our corvettes."

"Start pulling them back," Radek ordered. "Status on the incoming attack wave?"

The UNE bomber was a respectable craft, armed with torpedoes that could do grievous damage to capital ships if they managed to actually land a hit. That required the bombers to be sturdy enough to survive not just the point defenses of their targets but also the light craft screening a capital ship. Such durability was realistically infeasible so the bombers were escorted by an equal number of fighters. There were more than enough bombers to do grievous damage to Radek's ships if they actually broke through, which the admiral had no intention of letting them do.

"Still on course sir. ETA to contact with Captain Derricks, thirty seconds."

The squadrons of bombers and their fighter escorts had been racing toward Radek's command for several minutes now. Apparently confident in their numbers, the UNE force was approaching on an almost ballistic trajectory and velocity. The single mindedness of the approaching UNE pilots had however played right into his hand as a wave of Colonial heavy fighters suddenly folded in and slashed through the enemy formation.

Bombers shattered and exploded in fiery displays as the heavies pounded them with plasma. The escorting fighters immediately turned to face this new threat but the speed of the attack had allowed the heavies to streak right through. Countless fighters maneuvered to give chase only to suffer a barrage of gunfire from behind as Colonial interceptors followed up with an ambush of their own. The interceptors did not merely blow through, instead locking onto targets and staying doggedly on their tail until they were destroyed. The heavies were also on their second pass and blasted the fighters the interceptors had crippled. Within seconds, the entire UNE formation was in shambles with the survivors either running or on their way to join their deceased comrades.

"Well that seems to have riled them up," Radek observed as several UNE cruisers and frigates began accelerating toward his command. "Status on the corvettes?"

"92% have reached their fallback positions so far. We lost a few in the withdrawal."

Radek nodded. "Have corvettes retarget on those frigates and cruisers. Sequence the launches as before."

"Aye sir."

The responses to Radek's attacks were escalating but he really needed the UNE to come at him with the entirety of their fleet. To do so, he had to make efforts to nail him with small detachments as painful as possible. The problem was the UNE had more than enough ships that they could send just a fraction and still completely overwhelm him with sheer numbers. If his corvettes could maintain their bombardment however, he might just convince them that their best shot of taking him out was to keep their entire fleet together to concentrate their point defenses against the torpedoes.

"Admiral, the Unies have launched more fighters after our corvettes."

Radek grimaced. Of course there was no reason for the UNE to be especially cooperative in letting him continue the bombardment.

"Order the corvettes to assume shell formation."

"Yes sir."

The individual dots of the corvettes began to converge soon after into clumps of four. Individually corvettes were quite survivable against fighters and interceptors, but were as vulnerable to being swarmed as any other ship. The only defense against that was strength in numbers and four was the count where the increase in survivability versus loss of maneuverability for a squadron started hitting diminishing returns.

"Sir, enemy capital ships will be in weapons range in five minutes."

Another nod. "Send the signal for albatross."

"Aye sir."


A single fighter peeled away and folded out unnoticed. Lidar immediately lashed it when it reappeared but the pilot quickly transmitted the challenge answer. He did not relax until the he received his own acknowledgment and could be certain the assembled ships were not going to start shooting.

"Admiral, Admiral Radek has sent albatross," Summers reported. "We're receiving the data dump now."

Kosygin nodded, her eyes focused on the tactical data. The UNE fleet was as overwhelming as they had feared, or perhaps hoped. Thirty-three carriers, seventy-nine cruisers, and one hundred twenty-two frigates for a grand total of two hundred thirty-four capital ships. Based off of their intelligence sources, that had to be at least the combined might of the UNE First, Second, and Third Fleets. Her own forces were effectively outnumbered three to one in capital ships and would be slaughtered in a straight up fight even with the corvettes providing support. They could certainly hurt the UNE fleet as Radek was demonstrating, but not nearly enough to keep the survivors from rolling over Taranto and the colonies afterward.

"Admiral Suvorov and Admiral Soren are moving out," Taylor said.

There was no exchange of pleasantries for there was no time. Radek's orders were to signal for albatross only when a suitably large UNE force was almost down his throat. If they got the timing right Suvorov and Soren would arrive fast enough to prevent him from taking major losses, but they needed to move quickly. Then again receiving albatross was somewhat reassuring. It suggested the UNE was reacting as the plan called for. Now they just needed the UNE to keep playing along until Pandora could be sprung.

Radek's cruiser shook from the impact as the UNE warships hammered his formation. To the port side a miniature nova ignited and consumed one of his frigates.

"We've lost the Valiant!"

The admiral grimaced. "Order Bellicose and Vanguard to plug that hole!"

"Aye sir!"

Two other frigates slowly shifted their positions, trying to close off the gap in the perimeter left by Valiant's death. They were only partially successful as a wave of fighters broke through and began strafing runs on the cruisers. Guns thundered as flak and plasma peppered the space around them, catching a few of the attackers. Others survived to bring their weapons to bear and returned fire, blowing apart turrets and inflicting some minor damage to the hulls.

"New contacts! IFF confirmed, it's Admirals Suvorov and Soren!"

A wolfish grin cracked on Radek's face as he watched the UNE warships come under bombardment. In their effort to encircle his own taskforce the enemy had spread out, leaving their own ships without much depth in defenses. Two of the frigates seemed to snap as beams lashed through their hull, melting armor and shattering weapons. Their broken hulks continued drifting as the Colonial warships shifted their focus to other threats.

To their credit the UNE ships maintained discipline and converged as they tried to fight their way out. Another of Radek's frigates exploded, having taken too much damage before the arrival of reinforcements. The enemy chose their targets carefully and now one of Radek's cruisers fell under heavy fire from the survivors. Every UNE warship that had a clear shot unloaded on the cruiser, hammering the hull until the frame started to buckle. Pieces of armor were blown clear off while explosions rippled through her compartments. Even as his own cruiser died, Radek and the other Colonial warships poured fire into the enemy formation. One by one the UNE ships fell, some as burnt wrecks while others exploded in spectacular fireballs. They did not die alone however as one of Admiral Soren's frigates shattered and another of Radek's cruisers started veering away, the damage so deep atmosphere leaked out from the inner compartments. Escape was soon cut off however as dozens of heavy fighters swept over the UNE warships. Engines sputtered and died on more and more of the ships, leaving them barreling ahead without any control. Even so crippled, they fought to the end and claimed a further two kills before being reduced to scrap.

"Status," Radek said.

"Two of our frigates are barely flying sir," came the response. "And Iron Maiden is reporting most of her weapons are inoperable."

The UNE attack had effectively neutralized half of Radek's frigates and cruisers but the losses they inflicted in return made the exchange a victory.

"Sir, it looks like the Unies have taken the bait."

Looking at the plot, Radek watched as the majority of the UNE fleet began advancing upon them.

"I doubt they could resist," Radek commented. "After all, this is their chance to come and defeat the invincible Black Fleet."

Radek was likely right about what finally pulled the UNE fleet out. The sudden appearance of the Black Fleet accompanied by so many other Colonial capital ships had to be an irresistible target for the UNE, especially since they still held such an overwhelming numerical advantage. The UNE fleet was obviously not going to risk any more detachments being isolated and destroyed in detail, which was a logical choice on their part. Unfortunately for the UNE, that was exactly what the Colonials wanted them to do.

"Admiral, it looks like three of their carriers are hanging back," an officer reported.

"Not too surprising," said Radek. "Not like their carriers were ever designed to get in the thick of the action. How many escorts also hung back?"

"Looks like a pair of frigates and a cruiser, sir. Nothing we couldn't handle directly."

"I suppose that'll do," said Radek. "ETA until they reach the target distance?"

"Six minutes sir."

"Send Pandora once they cross the three minute mark," Radek ordered. "Don't wait for further permission."

"Aye sir."

Folding space was not a trivial operation and had a great many factors involved. In addition to the somewhat exponential power requirements as mass and distance increased, the specific location where one folded in or out was also important. Trying to fold too close to a large gravity well substantially increased the amount of power needed, which often meant capital ships needed to be some distance away from a planet before folding for any meaningful distance. With their inability to fully control the Relic the Colonials could not bring it in-system as deeply as where the UNE ships had originally folded in, hence all the effort to lure the UNE fleet further out. Now that the bait had been taken, it was time to see if they had achieved enough control over the Relic to win the war.

"Target distance reached, Pandora sent."


The sudden emergence of the Relic seemed to stun the UNE forces completely. It was nearly a minute before they overcame their shock enough to react and the UNE fleet began decelerating and swerving away. Their efforts came too late however as the massive storm swept over them, killing their engines and disabling power systems. The UNE ships spiraled about, some colliding into each other as they lost any ability to maneuver. Others somehow managed to avoid committing fratricide, for all the good it did in the end.

What came next was not battle but slaughter. Heavy fighters and missile interceptors disgorged by Kosygin's carriers joined those from Suvurov's flagship and blazed through the helpless enemy formation. They focused on the frigates, scoring thousands of hits and slowly eating through the armor of the smaller of the capital ships. One by one, blossoms of fire erupted to mark their deaths.

The CIN's own frigates were next, unleashing waves and waves of torpedoes upon the helpless UNE cruisers and any UNE frigate that had not been pounded into wreck yet. With no way to dodge or shoot down the incoming projectiles, UNE warships left and right shattered from the impacts. Then came the cruisers whose beam weapons picked off those which had by some miracle escaped unscathed up to this point. The butchery took time due to the sheer number of targets and the CIN's own much more modest numbers, but it continued relentlessly until all that was left in their wake were broken hulks and shattered wrecks.

"Admiral, the survivors are making a run for it," Taylor reported.

"No offers of surrender?"

"No ma'am."

"Pass the order to our light craft and corvettes to pursue and destroy them," Kosygin said.

"Yes ma'am," Summers replied.

"Ma'am, there's something else," Taylor continued. "The UNE escape pods are all vectoring towards the planet."

A grim silence fell for several moments before Kosygin responded. "Do nothing."

"Are you sure ma'am?" Taylor asked.

The question could be considered insubordination, but Taylor had been with Kosygin for a very long time. That cut him a certain amount of slack and the right to question his superior's intentions.

"The UNE won't be in a position to send rescue anytime soon," Kosygin said. "At least this way it'll be over quickly."

A slight flicker crossed Taylor's eyes but he said nothing, instead returning his attention to the plot. Despite having been with him so long, Kosygin was still amazed at the man's ability to hide his thoughts from even her. She was not certain whether it was acceptance or disapproval that had momentarily surfaced and she was not sure which she would have preferred. The responsibility to make these decisions was however hers and she could not shirk away from them.

"How long before the Relic will be in position?" Kosygin asked.

"Half an hour ma'am," Taylor replied. "It's taking the techs some time to divert power back to the engines from the storm."

"Sloppy," Kosygin muttered. "We need to learn how to control the Relic better."

"Hopefully the end of the war will give us that time ma'am."

Kosygin nodded. "Do we have casualty reports compiled yet?"

"Mostly ma'am. I can provide you with a preliminary copy."

As Kosygin's operations officer along with being her chief of staff, Taylor would have been responsible for compiling the reports anyway. Being the same person simply shortened the communication chain by one more link.

"Please do."

The summary popped up in Kosygin's message queue and she opened it with little hesitation. Beyond the losses Radek and Soren suffered luring the UNE fleet in and the corvettes that had been overwhelmed by UNE light craft, the fleet was in fairly good shape. The battle had gone remarkably according to plan and was a good opening act for the campaign. Now they just needed the rest of the operation to go as well. Something told Kosygin however that there would be plenty of impending problems for her fleet to face.


As the Relic finally settled into place, the rest of the CIN fleet backed off to avoid getting caught in the blast. It was over a hundred thousand kilometers from the planet itself but the distance hardly seemed to matter. The Relic's minders watched nervously as the concentration of folder energy kept on building. And then, the cracks started appearing.

Conventional wisdom stated that it was effectively impossible to fold when directly on top of a large gravity well like that generated by a planet. Theory suggested that with sufficient power the feat could be achieved, but the minimum energy necessary was calculated to be several orders of magnitude greater than anything humanity's current technological level could achieve. The Relic was not manmade however and what it now did to the planet was providing ample proof that the formerly impractical theory was actually completely correct.

As the planet was folded in on itself, the surface cracked and seemed to twist. The plates that lay underneath crumbled into each other, spewing forth torrents of molten earth. Veins of red crept across the planet before bursting into fiery geysers. These too grew and grew until chunks of the planet literally spun off from the surface. The torrent of destruction washed across the planet, seeming to disintegrate everything in its path. Streams of mass knocked loose rocketed out as if fleeing from the devastation. When the Relic had finally expended its fury, the planet was a misshapen lump awash in burning red.

End of Chapter 2

Hmm, not much to say. Readers have also been quiet, so I'll just leave it here.