First Battle of Kilrah - 2667

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The First Battle of Kilrah was a key part of Operation Back Lash. It was the strike force tasked with striking directly into the Kilrah System.

Kilrah and its two moons, Largkza and unidentified

Background

Confederation Situation

By the mid-2660s the Terran Confederation and Kilrathi Empire had fought each other to a virtual standstill. However, starting in 2665 the Confederation began to suffer heavy losses, particularly in carriers. 2666 proved to be particularly disastrous for the Confederation with nine carriers destroyed and the TCS Austerlitz so heavily damaged she would be in dry dock until 2668. The Confederation was left with seven fleet carriers to cover the entire front. Operation Back Lash was developed in response to the Confederation's desperate situation in carriers. The Confederation needed time to bring more heavy carriers than under construction online. Military commanders had war gamed a scenario that, while risky, could provide huge rewards. Strike Force Valkyrie was an essential part of that plan. The Kilrathi Home Fleet was to be lured into an ambush at Vukar Tag by four Confederation carriers and their escorts. In order to split the Home Fleet Confederation planners incorporated Strike Force Valkyrie into the overall plan. One of the newly constructed Wake-Class Escort Carriers and escorts were to penetrate into the Kilrah System using a jump line that made the trip considerably shorter and would offer the best chance to cause a dilemma for Crown Prince Thrakhath nar Kiranka by exposing itself at a critical moment. By striking at the home system while the Kilrathi Home Fleet went to redeem the honor of Emperor Joor'rad nar Kiranka's mother, Dowager Empress Graknala nar Kiranka by retaking Vukar Tag, Thrakhath would be put in an untenable position and forced to split his fleet. This was the key to Operation Back Lash.

Kilrathi Situation

The Kilrathi military, operating under the command of Crown Prince Thrakhath, had to respond to the dishonor caused by the Confederation invasion and continued occupation of Vukar Tag. They were fed information by a hidden burst signal facility (the Confederation actually let it live for this very purpose) on the surface of Vukar Tag. It captured images of Confederation marines looting and then destroying the Dowager Empress' estate. The castle had special meaning for the Crown Prince who had spent some time there as a cub. The insult to the Imperial family was clear and had to be avenged. The entire Home Fleet with ten carriers and

Orders to Strike Force Valkyrie

Admiral Banbridge ordered Strike Force Valkyrie, "Your mission is to drive straight into the heart of the Kilrathi Empire and to launch a strike on their home system...If anything will split off the home fleet it will be this action. We've traced out a route into the Empire which will follow back trade lanes, using a recently discovered jump point that will take you across a dozen sectors in a single leap. From there, you'll be down into the bottom side of the Empire nearly five hundred parsecs from here and just four jumps from their home world of Kilrah. You'll then drive straight up, relying on speed and stealth. The key point, however, is that you will let the Kilrathi know you're coming...that's the heart of the plan. We expect that once you've completed that long jump, the Kilrathi home fleet will be over halfway out here to Vukar and then, suddenly, you push the backdoor alarm bell. They'll be between a rock and a hard place. They won't know about the trap waiting at Vukar, but they will know about you. We expect that interior defenses will be damn near stripped for their offensive. Ignore you, and the home planet gets a hell of a shaking up. Abandon the offensive and race back home and honor is lost for not immediately retaking Vukar...They'll walk into the trap with part of their fleet missing and we'll smash it to pieces. If it works, it just might trigger a political crisis that could bring down the Emperor himself and at the very least we'll have bagged half a dozen of their finest capital ships."

Opposing Forces

Strike Force Valkyrie

Strike Force Commander, Commodore Thaddeus O'Brian

• Flagship: TCS Tarawa (Wake-Class Escort Carrier)
  • 45 fighters (One Squadron each of Ferrets, Rapiers and Sabres)
    • Wing Commander, Captain Jason Bondarevsky
  • First Marine Commando Battalion (500 Marine Commandos)
    • Commander Officer, Colonel Jim Merritt
    • Air-to-Ground Coordinator, "The Talker," Major Svetlana Ivanova
  • Ten Marine Landing Craft

• TCS Intrepid
  • Captain Grierson

• TCS Kagimasha
  • Captain Teng

Kilrathi Forces

Kilrah System

• Forces Throughout System Deployed Against Strike Force Valkyrie
  • Seventy plus fighters of various makes (Sartha, Dralthi, Grikath noted)
  • 4 Kamekh-Class Corvettes
  • 1 Confirmed Orbital Base

Kilrathi Home Fleet

Force Commander, Crown Prince Thrakhath

• Force that enters Kilrah System
  • 1 Carrier
  • 2 Fraltha-Class Cruisers
  • 4 Ralatha-Class Destroyers
  • 2 Kamekh-Class Corvettes

• Blocking Forces
  • 2 Carriers
    • KIS Karu
    • KIS Torg

Penetrating the Empire

Strike Force Valkyrie spent five days running at full speed into the Empire. They had only encountered a lone transport which Etienne Montclair destroyed. Jason Bondarevsky took a Ferret out and purposely sent out radar scans in order to be spotted by Kilrathi forces. He was able to lure six Sartha back to the Tarawa. However, Commodore O'Brian decided to alter the plan and scrambled eight ships to intercept them before they sighted the strike force. Bondarevsky conspired with Doomsday on Commlink 2331 to allow the Kilrathi to spot the strike force despite O'Brian's intentions. Upon completing the mission Bondarevsky and O'Brian had an argument on the bridge of the Tarawa. Serious charges were made by both parties. O'Brian was on the verge of turning the strike force back when Captain Grierson arrived on scene and reinforced Bondarevsky's position by pushing the strike force onward. The trap was now set for the Kilrathi.

The First Battle of Kilrah

Strike Force Valkyrie penetrated the Kilrah System and immediately launched a reconnaissance sweep composed of Ferrets. They reported twenty five plus Kilrathi fighters (Sartha, Dralthi and several Grikath) and three Kamekh-Class Corvettes on an intercept approach. In the ensuing dogfight the Kilrathi force was destroyed for the loss of one fighter and one seriously damaged.

Assault on Largkza

TCS Intrepid and Kagimasha bombarded Largkza's surface for an hour before eight Sabres and four Rapiers made a anti-point defense strike using new Air-to-Ground Anti-Radar Submunition Missiles. The weapon broke into fifty submunitions and tracked individual radars, radio links, laser trackers, point defense guidance systems, and subspace transmitters. One Sabre was lost before release, however the seven remaining Sabres each released four of the missiles for a total of 1,400 warheads. Hundreds were destroyed before reaching their targets, however hundreds more made it through to destroy Kilrathi point defenses. Jason Bondarevsky launched a single anti-radar missile after the initial strike to catch any Kilrathi systems that had stayed offline.

Ten landing craft carrying the 500 commandos made their assault following the strike by the Tawara's fighters. One was shot down making the landing while the other nine reached the surface to begin their mission. At the same time another group of Dralthi had sortied from Kilrah to intercept the strike force but was stopped by Janice Parker's mixed force of Ferrets and Rapiers.

At this point in the battle Bondarevsky took a mental tally of kills and losses. Fifty plus Kilrathi fighters destroyed as well as four corvettes. The Tarawa's flight wing had lost five Ferrets, five Rapiers and one Sabre.

The battle waged for another hour with Bondarevsky attacking several ground targets, but Etienne Montclair's Sabres were inflicting the most damage on secondary targets revealed by the marines as they took out phase-shield generating systems. The attack ripped apart barracks and construction areas, the heavy single-missile matter/antimatter warheads tossing up debris twenty kilometers above the moon's surface.

Enter the Crown Prince

Crown Prince Thrakhath was delayed in entering the Kilrah system because the jump had gone awry. Instead of placing his force of one carrier and eight escort ships into the Kilrah system hours ahead of Strike Force Valkyrie, they had jumped into the system beyond Kilrah. As a result they were delayed in reaching Kilrah by several hours and the previous navigator committed Zu'kara in atonement for the error. Thrakhath's other carriers had moved around the flank to cut off escape routes for the Terrans.

When Thrakhath's carrier did jump to the Kilrah system they found Strike Force Valkyrie full engaged in assaulting Largkza. They were screened by an asteroid field and launched Strakhas to interfere with the ongoing operations.

The TCS Tarawa suffered a hit and fires broke out in the Combat Information room disrupting communications between Bondarevsky and the carrier. Captain Grierson on the Intrepid informed Bondarevsky of the situation. They had three and a half hours before the carrier and escorts became a serious threat.

It was at this point that Commodore O'Brian initiated an immediate withdrawal to the jump point. This sparked the final confrontation between him and Bondarevsky over the comm channel. O'Brian was willing to leave the marines and any fighters that did not reach the carrier behind. O'Brian relieved Bondarevsky and placed him under arrest for insubordination. Bondarevsky called him a coward and threatened to kill him once he arrived on the Tarawa. The carrier had already turned away from Largkza and was moving towards full speed when Bondarevsky landed onboard. Bondarevsky told Grierson of the situation and instructed him to cover and rescue as many marines as possible.

Bondarevsky landed on the Tarawa and made his way to the bridge when en route a tremendous explosion shook the carrier. A Kilrathi kamikaze had slammed into the bridge killing everyone, including Commodore O'Brian. Bondarevsky took control of the carrier and had a new bridge set up in flight control overlooking the flight deck. His first order was to get the carrier back into the fight.

Valkyrie on the Run

From the bridge of the TCS Tarawa Jason Bondarevsky was now in de facto command of the strike force. Technically Captain Grierson outranked Bondarevsky, but Grierson deferred to Bondarevsky for the duration of the fighting.

The Tarawa's radar was knocked out by the kamikaze and had to rely on Intrepid for information about Thrakhath's approaching forces. They reported, "The enemy carrier is closing in at flank speed, with a spread of two cruisers and four destroyers forward and two corvettes to the flanks. Will arrive in twenty-seven minutes. We have a second wave of inbound fighters as well, fifty plus."

The Tarawa's flight wing had been reduced to eight Ferrets, eight Rapiers and six Sabres that were still flyable. Damage Control on the Tarawa reported airlocks had been established around the hull breach near the bridge, however the engine room was still cut off from the rest of the ship except for a radio link. The inertial dampening system was out of phase, by less than one thousandth of a second, but it made all maneuvers noticeable. The status of the jump engine was in question as the jump control officer had been killed. The infirmary and forward crew bays were also destroyed. One fifth of the crew had been lost, over a hundred dead and forty wounded.

The marines on Largkza had accelerated their timetable and had begun their pull out. The Intrepid in the mean time had landed on the surface and extracted two landing ship crews before lifting off. One crew was lost while trying to lift off. Two landing craft were to dock with the Intrepid shortly and three remained on the surface about to lift off to rendezvous in orbit.

After briefly recovering fighters for rearmament, Bondarevsky delivered a short speech to the crew and prepared to take onboard the landing craft then lifting off the surface of Largkza. The landing craft carrying Svetlana Ivanova was hit by a heat seeking missile launched from the surface. It lost power and impacted back on the planet. After an emotional exchange between Bondarevsky, Merritt and Ivanova, Ivanova detonated the antimatter mines. The damage to the facilities on Largkza was extensive and Svetlana and the 34 surviving marines were killed in the blast.

Fifty of Tarawa's crew were causalities from the kamikaze strike and the ship itself needed time to effect repairs to its shield generator and jump drive. Bondarevsky knew the jump points would be blocked and found an alternative in the gas giant Igrathi. During the three hour run to the planet the Tarawa lost three Ferrets, two Rapiers and a Sabre in exchange for a dozen enemy fighters (mostly Grikath and Jalkehi fighters) and a single torpedo hit on a Ralatha destroyer which forced it to drop out of the chase. As they neared Igrathi the Intrepid and Kagimasha began trading torpedo salvos with the Ralathas still chasing them. One appeared to carry an improved engine system that allowed it to afterburn a dozen clicks a second faster than the Tarawa.

Bondarevsky ordered his escorts to smash the orbital base while telling his navigator to fly them directly through the debris field while fully extending the ram scoops to slow the escort carrier down. As the carrier slowed Bondarevsky ordered all fighters to immediately return to base. He signaled his escorts to rendezvous in thirty hours at 17:24 CST. The plan was to confuse the Kilrathi. Using a landing craft loaded with an matter/antimatter mine as a cover the three Terran ships planned to drive into Igrathi's atmosphere. Meanwhile, the Tarawa's fighter wing was landing at twenty second intervals while Janice Parker, commander of the Ferret squadron, remained on station behind the carrier to provide some cover for the landing fighters.

Multiple Kilrathi capital ships and fighters were still closing on the Terran ships. Six Grikath bombers bore in on the carrier and launched six torpedoes. Five of the torpedoes were destroyed by the combined fire from anti torpedo guns and missiles on all three Terran capital ships. Janice Parker destroyed the final torpedo by flying her Ferret directly into it. The mine was detonated which provided the cover necessary for the three Terran ships to dive five hundred kilometers into Igrathi's ammonia and sulphur atmosphere. The Kilrathi ships used high energy microwave bursts to search for the Terran ships to no avail.

Bondarevsky addressed the crew of the Tarawa briefly: "All hands. We've managed to elude the Kilrathi attack by diving into the upper atmosphere of a gas giant where their sensing devices can not find us due to atmospheric interference. As you can guess, any type of visual search is like looking for a feather in a blizzard. We will rendezvous with our escorts in a little less than thirty hours. In those thirty hours we are going to repair our ship and our damaged fighters and we are going to come back out kicking. Congratulations on a job well done. Merritt's marines smashed half a dozen carriers under construction and a hell of a lot of equipment. Our task force has downed over seventy enemy fighters, four corvettes, one orbital base, along with a number of probabilities and damaged. I'm proud of you, and the Confederation is proud of you. All damage control officers, weapons officers, and engineering officers report to the temporary bridge in one half hour. Thank you and keep it up, Tarawa. I'm damned proud to be part of this team."

Prince Thrakhath's force took up defensive positions to intercept possible approaches to Kilrah. Destroyers were left to scan Igrathi. A picket line of cruisers and corvettes was stationed between Kilrah and Igrathi while the carrier carrying the Crown Prince was stationed in high orbit above Kilrah. In a conversation with the Emperor, Thrakhath learned of the developing situation at Vukar Tag. A Confederation task force had been detected entering the system as Kilrathi landing operations commenced. The Battle of Vukar Tag had been joined.

Making Repairs and Burying the Dead

For the next 29 hours the crew of the Tarawa worked to repair the damage suffered during the first phase of the fighting. The ship had sustained serious structural damage. In a conversation between Bondarevsky, Montclaire, the bridge staff and a twenty-five year fleet veteran named Jim who was a transfer from the Concordia. Jim had replaced his fresh out of the Academy senior officer when he died on the bridge. The bridge itself had been completely destroyed by the kamikaze hit with all hands lost. The Launch Control Room had been transformed into a backup bridge, a feature the Wake class was not designed with. Helm Control, Combat Information, Navigation and Damage Control stations had been set up in the space and the only major station missing was Radar. The long range scanner had been completely destroyed in the kamikaze strike. Three of the six main keel beams had structural cracks running down them. These along with hundreds of other fractures in the hull allowed air to leak while also allowing Igrathi's toxic atmosphere to seep in. Some of the structural damage was repaired with durasteel salvaged from a wrecked Ferret. Fires remained onboard in the aft crew quarters but were under control. These fires had polluted the air in the section and the air filtration system would require a couple of days to clean the section out. The shield generators had been damaged allowing no more than 75% power. The engine room was now in direct contact with the rest of the carrier through a pressurized corridor established by damage control.

The flight wing had suffered almost 50% causalities. 23 of 44 pilots remained, not including Bondarevsky who was now acting captain. Two marine pilots were qualified to fly Ferrets but neither Bondarevsky or Montclair wanted to risk their lives against Kilrathi fleet pilots unless it was absolutely necessary. Bondarevsky promoted Montclair to Wing Commander. Bondaresvky also promoted Tolwyn to squadron leader for the Rapiers and RoundTop for the Ferrets. 7 Ferrets, 8 Rapiers and 5 Sabres were all that was left for flyable fighters.

The Terran officers then made their way to the flight deck for a brief funeral ceremony for those who had been killed. Bondarevsky made a short remark and read the 23rd Psalm. Bodies were pushed through the airlock into Igrathi's atmosphere. Colonel Merritt came forward and symbolically ordered two sergeants to push the pair of jump boots with a helmet placed on top through the airlock as well. Thirty seven minutes later Strike Force Valkyrie emerged from Igrathi's atmosphere on a course directly towards Kilrah with ram scoops closed.

Changing "Maneuvering Tactics and Close-In Tactics Forever!"

Bondarevsky's plan was to distract Thrakhath's forces by launching a Ferret and Marine Landing Craft armed with "old-style atomic weapons" that would be easily detected by the Kilrathi. Prince Thrakhath's forces quickly detected the ships and made an all out effort to make sure they did not reach Kilrah. Thrakhath had been informed by the Emperor of the disaster suffered at Vukar Tag as well as ordering him to make sure no Terran attack touched Kilrah. This played directly into Bondarevsky's plan.

With ram scoops closed the three Terran ships accelerated rapidly. As they crossed eight thousand clicks per second the Ferret and landing craft were launched towards Kilrah. Kilrathi forces responded with overwhelming strength towards the two small ships. The three Terran capital ships then fired their maneuvering thrusters to turn perpendicular to their flight path. The landing craft was rammed by a Sartha and the Ferret was destroyed. Kagimasha was also rammed by a Sartha completely destroying the corvette and killing everyone onboard.

The Tarawa and Intrepid cruised 50 kilometers over Kilrah's North Pole using their tractor beams on the planet to slingshot them towards jump point F-One / Vuwarg jump point. In less than ten seconds the two ships put Kilrah a hundred thousand kilometers astern. They would arrive at the jump point in seven hours and thirty two minutes. They had an estimated five million kilometer lead on any Kilrathi forces.

Prince Thrakhath admitted to himself that the maneuver by Bondarevsky had been "brilliantly executed it was also an exercise in futility" It had bought the Terrans a bit more life. He realized he had not thought the situation through a human's perspective where a chance to hit the enemy homeworld came beyond living another day. Thrakhath ordered the KIS Karu to block the jump line from Baragh to Rushta.KIS Torg is ordered to block the Baragh to Xsar jump line. Thrakhath's task force moved to block the Baragh to Lushkag jump line. He ordered thirty reserve fighters be delivered from the palace guard to his carrier to replenish losses. They were to move to their blocking point two hours after the Terran ships completed their slingshot maneuver.

Seven hours and thirty two minutes later the Terran ships jumped from the Kilrah to Vuwarg System. The battle now became a stern chase.

The Return to Confederation Space

Running to Baragh

In the system after Vuwarg, Strike Force Valkyrie encountered a Kilrathi orbital base. It was taken out in a sharp attack led by Grierson, several Sabres, and a company of marines. It was then stripped of durasteel, emergency air canisters and a light shuttle craft. They also removed half a dozen of the base's mass driver mini guns, which were welded to the ship just forward of the landing airlock for point defense. The gun crews were volunteers and had to go EVA to reach them.

Two days later the Kilrathi had two Frathlas and four Ralathas only six hours behind the Terran ships. Two hours and twenty eight minutes later the Terran ships jumped into the Baragh System.

Battle of Baragh

As soon as the Terran ships entered Baragh they encountered Prince Thrakhath's picket forces. One carrier was parked on the edge of an asteroid belt in system. It had deployed a belt of mines forward. Another carrier was deployed on the far side of the system. It was hours from the Terrans location. The third of Thrakhath's carriers was also jumping in system at the same time as the Terran ships on the far side of the system as well. A fourth carrier was detected jumping in system from the Jugara System but it was hours away from the action and was shrouded by heavy jamming and an asteroid belt.

Bondarevsky ordered all fighters launched and to push towards the Jugara jump point. Strike Group Alpha moved to attack the closest carrier. It was led by Montclair. The strike consisted of six Rapiers and three Sabres. Kevin Tolwyn led the Rapiers covering Montclair. Tarawa had a Combat Air Patrol (CAP) led by RoundTop consisting of six Ferrets, two Rapiers and two Sabres. Strike Group Alpha made an attempt on the Kilrathi carrier but scored no hits and only Montclair and Tolwyn survived.

The Intrepid moved into position to intercept an inbound cruiser while ten Gratha fighter-bombers made an attack run on the bow of the Tarawa while the CAP was engaged astern. Seven torpedoes were launched. Six torpedoes were downed by point defenses however one slammed into the armored bow. This hit caused the forward twenty meters of the armored bow to shear off taking the thirty five members of the volunteer crews on the cannibalized Kilrathi turrets to their deaths. Amazingly the Tarawa's hull held despite the massive damage. The armored bow had been an add on to the original transport design. It was simply welded on and was not integrated into the hull. Shields were knocked down to only eight percent.

A Kilrathi fighter positioned itself in front of the flight deck airlock and pumped mass driver rounds into the hangar. A Ferret's fuel tank went off destroying the fighter and killing the pilot inside. The flight deck became a hell when the Kilrathi fighter was destroyed by a Rapier being chased by two Drakhai. This was a fighter from the TCS Concordia which was using a Kilrathi IFF to mask its identity. Admiral Tolwyn had rushed down after the battle at Vukar Tag was essentially over to try and aid the Tarawa in its escape after intercepting a Kilrathi message stating the Tarawa had gone through the F-One / Vuwarg jump point. As Thrakhath's carrier moved out of its minefield, the Intrepid engaged a Fraltha and both ships were destroyed by torpedo spreads fired at point blank range. When Montclair and Kevin Tolwyn landed onboard they informed Bondarevsky that the fourth carrier from Jugara was the Concordia. Admiral Tolwyn had launched fighters to cover the Tarawa and a strike package to drive off the remaining Kilrathi forces. Thrakhath cut his losses and disengaged while the Terran forces withdrew to Jugara and back to Confederation space.

Casualties

Strike Force Valkyrie

• TCS Tarawa severely damaged spent months in dry dock
  • 283 crew members on Tarawa KIA
  • 30 of 44 pilots KIA.
• TCS Intrepid Destroyed
• TCS Kagimasha Destroyed
• Unknown number of members of First Marine Battalion KIA.

Kilrathi Forces

• Six Carrier Construction Slips Destroyed on Largkza
• Six Carriers Under Construction Destroyed on Largkza
• Cruiser Assembly Facility Destroyed on Largkza
• Two Orbital Station Destroyed: one in Kilrah System second in unidentified system
• One Fraltha Cruiser Destroyed in Baragh System
• Four Kamekh Corvettes Destroyed in Kilrah System
• Roughly 90 fighters destroyed through battle
• Over 4,000 Kilrathi Technicians Killed on Largkza
• One High Level Design Team Killed on Largkza

Aftermath

Strike Force Valkyrie suffered significant losses during the attack on Kilrah. Only the TCS Tarawa survived the raid and was so badly damaged that she narrowly avoided decommissioning and scrapping only by the insistence of Admiral Tolwyn and Jason Bondarevsky. Tarawa also received the unique distinction of having "First to Kilrah" painted on her hull directly under where the bridge had been located. Bondarevsky was promoted to Captain for his leadership during the raid.

Despite these losses, the devastation to the Kilrathi Home Fleet was far greater. With the loss of six carriers, several construction facilities and over 4,000 naval personnel and soldiers, the First Battle of Kilrah - 2667 was a clear victory for humanity. The attack deprived the Kilrathi Navy of a large amount of irreplaceable equipment and war ships, and it proved to be an enormous humiliation for the Kilrathi as a whole. The complimenting Confederation victory at Vukar Tag was a victory equal to the success of the raid on Largkza. Humanity regained hope that they would win the war against their enemy, strengthening their resolve and giving humanity an advantage on the battlefield.

The success of the First Battle of Kilrah - 2667 prompted the Terran Confederation to assemble and commission about another dozen Escort Carriers, all of which would participate in deep-space raids on high-profile Kilrathi targets deep within the Kilrathi Empire. Within a year, these strikes effectively rendered the Kilrathi military undermanned and deprived of equipment. A further seven carriers were destroyed by Confederation forces. They By the end of 2668, the Kilrathi Empire was losing the war, forcing its leadership to enact daring plans to destroy humanity before further losses were suffered. This series of events culminated in the return of exiled Baron Jukaga nar Ki'ra, who would turn defeat into victory with the proposal of the 2668 Armistice on 2668.191.