Battle of Phoenian Station 2

Battle of Phoenian Station 2 GTA-NTF War
Location		Low Minmus Orbit
Result		GTA-Phoenian Victory
Territorial Changes		NTF Expelled from inner system
Belligerents
Phoenia Galactic Tyrillis Alliance			Neo-Tyrillis Front
Phoenian Astrofleet Special Operations Command
Strength
1 Battlecruiser 1 Destroyer 14 Fighters 1 armed Space Station			1 Battleship 1 Light Cruiser 2 Corvettes 12 Fighters
Casualties and Losses
3 Fighters destroyed heavy damage to Pollux and Vainglory Damage to station			10 Fighters Destroyed 2 Corvettes captured 1 Battleship severely damaged, later scuttled

The Battle of Phoenian Station Two was an engagement in 2142 over Minmus fought over control of a Phoenian space station orbiting 10 kilometers over the moon. The engagement pitted the forces of the Neo-Tyrillis Front (NTF) against the combined forces of the Second Federal Union of Phoenia and the Galactic Tyrillis Alliance (GTA) and ended in a victory for the latter, who were able to retain control of the station with little cost in lives. The battle marked the first time that the GTA and NTF had engaged each other since 2127, thus resuming the conflict known as the NTF rebellion and saw the return of both powers to relevance in the geopolitics of the Kerbol System.

Background

NTF Rebellion

In 2125, a separatist movement known as the Neo-Tyrillis Front defected from the Galactic Tyrillis Alliance after growing disillusioned with the latter. Half of the GTA fleet defected including the GTA flagship GTJ Hades, and engaged over Kyris, an asteroid base towed into orbit of Kerbin between Mun and Minmus serving as their capital. With the remaining GTA and allied fleets of Orion and Phoenia too spread out across the system to provide any meaningful assistance, the GTA home fleet was quickly overwhelmed and destroyed or captured by the NTF. The NTF set Kyris and their fleet on a course for the outer reaches of the Kerbol System. The remnants of the GTA fleets were able to intercept the NTF at Duna and scored a pyrrhic victory. The GTA fleet regrouped and set a course for Dres where they would rebuild and live in secrecy for 15 years until supplies ran out and they were forced to return to Kerbin. The NTF, thought to be completely wiped out fled to Eeloo and later Laythe, faced with the same supply problems. From there, they too rebuilt their fleet and achieved a sustainable presence on the Joolian moon unbeknownst to the GTA.

Ophelia Incident

NTF reappeared in Kerbin SOI in 2141 after attacking and disabling the Systems Commonwealth frigate CSS Ophelia in a hit-and-run attack on an escape trajectory around Minmus in an attempt to determine the strength of the space forces defending the planet. The Ophelia was discovered by the Phoenian destroyer PAS Pollux, captained by Commodore Ryke Mazur, disabled and in a 20km orbit of Minmus. After offering assistance, the two crews eventually determined through analysis of sensor data that the ship that attacked them was a Hecate-class Light Cruiser of an older model, indicating that it belonged to the NTF. It was also during this incident that Sublieutenant Zero Ericson, serving as the second officer aboard the Pollux and PS2 was discovered by Phoenian Astrofleet Command to be a Vice Admiral in the GTA fleet, working for a covert branch of Galactic Tyrillis Intelligence (GTI) known as Special Operations Command (SOC). Thus confirming to the Phoenians that the GTA still existed and considered them allies. As for the Ophelia, it was towed back to PS2 for repairs in the station’s drydocks.

Course of the Battle

Prelude to Battle

Following the Ophelia incident, the Astrofleet ordered its ships into defensive positions around Kerbin with orders to watch for any incoming NTF ships and creating a sensor network between them. This proved to be an error as the ships were too spread out to reach the station when it fell under siege. The NTF also exploited a gap in this network by using EM interference from Kerbol and an Oberth maneuver around Mun to mask their approach. At the same time, the GTA fleet, the nearest allied force, was on approach from Dres and about an hour away from the station. Using a combadge of one of the officers on board the GTD Vainglory, the new flagship of the GTA fleet was able to send a message to PS2, alerting them of the approaching NTF ships without revealing their own presence.

Order of Battle

With but 10 minutes to prepare, the Phoenian station mobilized all the defenses it could muster. The force defending the station under the command of Commodore Mazur consisted of the Pollux-class Destroyer PAS Pollux, the lead ship of its class and 2 Sagan-class Heavy Multirole Drone Fighters. Phoenian Station Two itself was armed with its own complement of defensive weaponry.

The NTF fleet aiming to capture the space station to use as a launching point for further attacks was under the command of Rear Admiral Roger Stone. His fleet consisted of the Orion-class Battleship (not to be confused with the class of the same name employed in the OSF) NTD Soyakaze, the Hecate-class Light Cruiser NTCv Damien which he used as his flagship, the Aeolus-class Corvettes NTC Fortune and NTC Templar as well as 8 Ulysses-class Space Superiority Fighters and 4 Medusa-class Strike Bombers.

The part of the GTA fleet sent to reinforce the station and which would not arrive for another 50 minutes was commanded by Admiral Christopher Snipes and consisted of the new Archangel-class Battlecruiser GTD Vainglory and a squadron of 12 Gladius-class Advanced Space Superiority Fighters.

NTF Assault of the Station

The NTF opened the battle by sending the Soyakaze forward disguised as the flagship to demand the unconditional surrender of the station. After Captain James Hyde’s offer was refused, the antiquated battleship fired multiple salvos of light torpedoes at the Pollux. Although classed as a battleship, the Soyakaze’s weapons were outdated and ineffective and either missed or had little effect in penetrating the Pollux’s armour. The Pollux, captained by Subcommander Lance Ayrgil responded by firing two heavy torpedoes into each of the weapons bays of the Soyakaze, destroying its remaining store of ammunition and the subsequent fuel tanks behind them, taking out 2/3rds of the ship’s engines. The Pollux could have stopped there and engaged another target, but thinking that the Soyakaze was the enemy flagship, the overconfident subcommander expended the remaining 4 heavy torpedoes on the helpless battleship tearing holes into its fuel tanks and armour and crippling it further. This was exactly what Rear Admiral Stone had hoped for as the Pollux would now be useless against his ships. Despite being nearly destroyed, the Soyakaze’s heavy armour held up and she survived the battle, but her only option was to withdraw after losing the engagement with the Pollux.

As this was happening, Stone ordered the Medusa bombers with an escort of 4 of the Ulysses fighters to make an attack run on the station. Their objective being to take out the station’s weapons bays so that they would be able to capture the station without having to risk being fired upon. Seeing this, Commodore Mazur countered by sending the 2 Sagan fighters to engage the bombers, but these were intercepted by the 4 Ulysses. The first Sagan swiftly destroyed one of the Ulysses, but was taken out by another one of the fighters with a lucky shot to its core. The remaining Sagan took out two more of the Ulysses, able to take more damage with its superior protection, but eventually its weapons and propulsion were destroyed by the fourth Ulysses’ last torpedo, sending it plummeting to the surface of Minmus.

It was at this time that the Pollux had finished its battle with the Soyakaze, and was now the only thing the Phoenians had that could intercept the bombers before they reached the station. The Pollux used its limited complement of light torpedoes to intercept and destroy one of the NTF bombers, and got the attention of another, which retaliated with a heavy torpedo, damaging the Pollux more severely. The destroyer fired the last of its armament at the Medusa, destroying its propulsion, and like the Sagan, this bomber collided into the surface of Minmus. With the Pollux out of ammunition, the remaining two Medusa bombers reached the station, and managed to take out one of its weapons bays. The station’s defense systems proved adequate, as they swiftly dealt with the remaining bombers. Just before the last one was destroyed, it fired its torpedoes in a last ditch attempt to achieve its objective. The panicked nature of this attack resulted in a misfire, which annihilated the second pair of docking pylons on PS2, resulting in the deaths of some of the station personnel and a fire on board.

GTA Reinforcements Arrive

The situation for the Phoenians was now dire, despite their efforts in defending the station, both Phoenian fighters were destroyed and their destroyer was out of ammunition, the station’s supply of weapons dangerously low as well. The Pollux then set a course through the NTF fleet in an attempt to distract them from their objective. Ordered by Mazur to rejoin the rest of the Phoenian fleet, which planned to regroup and retake the station if it would come to that. Stone did not order pursuit of the Pollux, as he understood their diversion and could not lose sight of his objective. Instead, the Rear Admiral ordered the corvettes Fortune and Templar and the remaining wing of Ulysses to make another assault on the station and then board it once the weapons had all been fired or dealt with.

By this point, the GTA fleet had now come into range. For the Phoenians, their timing could not have been more perfect. The Vainglory and the 12 Gladii took up a defensive position between the station and the NTF ships. She opened up on the Templar with one of her heavy torpedoes which nearly crippled the corvette. The Templar returned fire with 3 light torpedoes, which were able to easily pierce the battlecruiser’s light armour, destroying her port engines and some of her fuel. The Vainglory retaliated with another torpedo, but the Templar miraculously survived and returned fire, this time the damage was worse and Vainglory lost half her weapons complement and yet another engine. Admiral Snipes now shifted his attention to the Fortune now that the Templar had exhausted its small supply of torpedoes and fired on the other ship. The damage to Fortune was equally as severe and the Vainglory tore a hole 1/4th of the length of the corvette into the ship. The determined crew of the Fortune returned fire, but was now facing the bow of the Vainglory, which absorbed most of the damage with ease, but one torpedo struck the side of the ship and took out her starboard engines too, nearly crippling the ship in similar fashion to the Soyakaze. Somehow the crippled battlecruiser remarkably managed to hold and returned fire on the Fortune, disabling its weapons.

The two corvettes turned away in an attempt to withdraw, but 4 Gladius-class fighters surrounded them and prevented their escape. Another wing of Gladii engaged the remaining Ulysses. In what seemed like a repeat of the earlier fighter battle, one of the Ulysses was destroyed, and the NTF fighters followed this up by destroying one of the Gladii. However, the superior armour of the remaining GTA fighters allowed them to hold up against the Ulysses’ firepower and retaliate by destroying 2 more of them, the fourth withdrawing after firing its torpedoes to no avail. Stone’s flagship, the Damien attempted to move in to assist his fighters and possibly destroy the Vainglory, which was barely together at this point. Stone’s plan was thwarted however, as the third wing of fighters engaged his ship and tied it down with suppressing fire. Although the damage to his flagship was relatively light, Stone saw that he had lost the battle and was forced to withdraw.

Aftermath

Though the NTF had lost the battle, some historians say that if the GTA fleet had not arrived when it did, Phoenian Station Two would have fallen and the NTF would have been able to temporarily establish a base of operations in the Kerbin system. Of the 12 fighters and bombers of the NTF task force sent to attack the station, 10 were lost, with only two unarmed Ulysses surviving the battle. Of the ships, Soyakaze and Damien were damaged but survived the fight, although, the former was scuttled at Duna, succumbing to its battle wounds. Fortune and Templar were recaptured once more by the GTA. Rear Admiral Roger Stone’s battered fleet would withdraw in disgrace to Laythe, where they would begin planning their next attack.

Victorious, the GTD Vainglory and PAS Pollux would return to the station for repairs. The PAS Saiph, the flagship of the Phoenian Astrofleet would arrive soon after. Admiral Terri Faust, the head of the fleet, would hold a ceremony, promoting Ryke Mazur to Rear Admiral and Lance Ayrgil to Commander as well as decorating and advancing the ranks of another of other honorable individuals who served in the battle. The Astrofleet would work to strengthen its tactics and prepare for the next NTF attack. The battle marked the return of the GTA, which was welcomed back to Kerbin with open arms by allies and neutral nations alike. They also established a permanent presence on the planet for the first time in their history and created a more stable government as well as establishing relations with other nations such as Laveska who they conducted a joint operation with during the Burr Crisis. The allied fleet had only lost 3 fighters and personnel casualties were light, the Vainglory and Pollux as well as PS2 had received damage during the battle, and the next few months were spent repairing the ships and replacing losses. The Battle of Phoenian Station Two was crucial in re-establishing relations between Tyrillis and Phoenia and once again reaffirmed their alliance and military power in space.