To: Council; From: Crayter Fleet Staff; Re: Equipment specification query [Courier]

[Panzer]

Respected allies. I have recently been informed about the existence of a class of starship in your employ that would potentially be of great help in a number of operations we may or may not have in store.

The information that reached me through a junior fleet officer's report indicates, that the craft is a converted predecessor to the modern Royal destroyer, adapted for use as a heavily armored troop carrier.

What I would like to know is whether such craft exists, if it does - its exact specification and finally - how many of them might be available in the coming weeks for a joint operation?

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~ Fleet Section Chief S-4 Gaetan Moliere

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[Thyrzul]

Initialisation...

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Intensité du signal: ██████████ 100%
Encodage: __________ ██████████ PLUS FORT

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Source: ________ Marne, Champagne
Expéditeur: ____ Général Pierre LaFlamme Du Conseil ___ [C]
Destinataire(s): Fleet Section Chief S-4 Gaetan Moliere =CR=







Sujet: _________ Re: -

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Transmission entrée...

Fleet Section Chief Moliere,

The whole of the information you refer to does not match any of our ships, parts of it refers to various ships at our disposal. Perhaps if you could specify the source of information, or share a bit more details about which ship you want to know more about, I could help reconciling the discrepancies et provide further information.

Sincèrement,
Général Pierre LaFlamme Du Conseil
Général en Chef Du Conseil

Piéce(s) jointe(s):

● N/A

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[Panzer]

Upon some research, I am led to suspect, that perhaps the pilot in question referred to the Taureau-clas armored transports.

The main issue at hand is - we are in fact planning a high-risk spaceborne assault upon a target I believe we both want addressed sooner, rather than later. That is the main reason for which I am investigating any and all possible ways of reducing casualties.

Initially, we had intended to employ the Celestra:

We do have these available, numbering in the hundreds - as the most commonly employed fleet logistics vessel as well as civilian levy. While these f have indeed been designed with boarding and planetary assualt in mind, news of something potentially better fielded by our allies did spark my interest. On paper, the Taureau is better-armed, with two extra turrets, rated at three times the hull integrity and with over twice the cargo capacity compared to a celestra - which itself is the most maneuverable ship in its class and costs only a sixth what each taureau does.

I'd welcome an estimate from your end on which ship would be better-suited for "you-know-what" task.

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~ Fleet Section Chief S-4 Gaetan Moliere

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[Thyrzul]

Initialisation...

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Intensité du signal: ██████████ 100%
Encodage: __________ ██████████ PLUS FORT

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Source: ________ Marne, Champagne
Expéditeur: ____ Général Pierre LaFlamme Du Conseil ___ [C]
Destinataire(s): Fleet Section Chief S-4 Gaetan Moliere =CR=







Sujet: _________ Re: -

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Transmission entrée...

Fleet Section Chief Moliere,

I'm not sure who your sources are, but I wouldn't really call them accurate. The Taureau-class Assault Transport is not a predecessor of the Triumph-class Destroyer, is not even anywhere near the size of the latter, et while years ago we had better access to them, due to the more recent regulations et more stern restrictions of the Kingdom's domestic authorities acquisition of the craft is virtually impossible for us at this moment.

The Council utilizes several alternatives of various sizes, primary roles et capacities for transporting our troops, in order to provide a proper advice I would need to know more details about what exact plans you have in mind. In case you ask me to chose from only the two options you've presented, due to technical reasons I outlined above I would recommend using the clearly abundant Celestra-class transports.

Sincèrement,
Général Pierre LaFlamme Du Conseil
Général en Chef Du Conseil

Piéce(s) jointe(s):

● N/A

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[Panzer]

The commander in chief has authorized me to release the following analysis to perhaps facilitate joint planning. We intend to at least capture and fortify planet harris, use it as a staging point against Royal supply lines. Unfortunately, this goal's feasibility is impossible to estimate, for our efforts to determine the strength of Royal defenses planetside (And therefore the force needed to handle them) did not produce any results whatsoever.

I doubt I need to point out the importance of prewar lanes in Tau-31 - cutting that highway would leave the Royal fleets in California with only one, open-space supply route. It may be ambitious to expect liberating tau-31 whole, but perhaps - it is not? That being said - I am asking whether you'd consider participating in a joint operation to that effect.

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Situation:
Tau-31 is under Royal occupation since the opening statges of the invasion, main enemy force concentrations at planet Harris - with the battleship Dax in orbit and unknown troop numbers and disposition on the surface. No prewar corporate personnel is known to remain. Additionally, there is the IMG outpost holman, which remains in the guild's collaborators' hands much in the same way as Java. The station's gn crews are either under duress or manned by Royal personnal - and will fire upon our vessels. Conversely - the ice miners just off Harris demonstrably remain in the hands of free guildsmen. It is an asset that should be handled very carefully.
Gaians remain active in the system. Intelligence suggests, that the only way Gaians could hope to sustain operations in the documented intensity for so long is through the existence of a drilled-ice installation, likely close to the Leeds-Holman lanes. Unknown whether the enemy has discovered the installation. Gaians have attacked our civilian infrastructure before and will most likely continue to harass whoever controls Harris.
The Maquis/Council established Charost outpost in a conveniently large ice concentration. Specific information on combat assets politely withheld, estimated as one squadron of council-issue fighters. The enemy has no knowledge of this installation. It is feasible to expect Council support if requested.
Our own fleet is concentrated in T-44 and Coronado mainly with the Helios on garrison duty in T29. The exact details of which I am quite certain each legitimate reader knows well enough.
Minefields from the previous war remain in place on the approach axis from the Leeds gate. Unfortunately, neither their present yield nor field density make them a useful asset.

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Objective:
Capture planet Harris and thereby decisively disrupt Royal logistics system-wide.

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Execution:
Variant A: Utilizing the recent innovations in faster than light travel - designated fleet assets from both the Coronado and Tau-44 task forces will converge at a pre-determined location and prepare for the next jump - into Tau-31. For that purpose precise coordinates will need to be obtained. The ideal location from a tactical surprise and therefore casualty rate standpoint is the Harris darkside, opposite the Dax's stationary orbit. Once the entire task force, along with landing ships exist FTL at these coordinates, escorts and warships will immediately secure the immediate area and following that - proceed to engage the Dax and whatever enemy assets present in Harris' immediate vicinity. Speed is of the essence, as the enemy maintains a large force at Leeds - just 5 minutes away from the operation's focal point. Thus - the marines will have to advance without aid from orbiting Fleet assets until the Dax has been disabled. Following the successful establishment of beachheads, the marines will be tasked to seize the nearest locations of importance at the commanders' discretion - such as communications arrays, fortifications (if any), industrial installations and infrastructure. No allied or neutral personnel are known to reside planetside, therefore all those encountered are to be considered enemy - combatants and otherwise. Prisoner treatment is to be afforded according to the units' commanders discretion and standing droit the guerre. Once the aforementioned locations have been secured - the marines must immediately commence work on fortification and aerospace infrastructure and await reinforcement and resupply.
Variant B: Using the aforementioned forces, albeit without jump drive technology, the detachments will meet in Tau-29 west by the Tau-31 jumphole and cross it at the appointed hour. After the jump, the entire unit will make best cruise speed directly for Harris Warships will move in first, engage and distract the Dax from the marine transport vessels following. The marines will land proceed with combat operations as outlined above.

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Logistics:
Regardless of astronomic distance, each jump requires a credit-value of 5 million in special fuel. Sufficient means have been set aside for that purpose. Marine landing craft designated as Celestra-class transports in sufficient numbers to accommodate the entire CMC along with a month's worth of supplies, munitions as well as materials and tools for basic fortification work. Alternately, there allegedly exists a class of troop carriers manufactured by the Council that is basicallly obsolete navy-issue destroyers converted to a new purpose. These would be preferrable. Fleet units will all commence the operation with standard stores.

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Command and communications:
Overall operational command will be handled by the commander in chief. Once planetside, the marine battalion commanders will each excersise discretion to coordinate and seize targets of importance nearest to their respective landing zones. Communications to be excersised through vox and script as necessity dictates.

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Additional considerations:
There is a number of risk factors involved. at the present time, we posess no information regarding Royal assets on the Harris surface. Our marine units will be operating blindly and without orbital fire support for the first, crucial moments on the surface. Relying mainly on (hopefully) overwhelming advantage in numbers and a dispersed attack pattern. What is however established is that the local garrison is well-drilled and prepared to rapidly respond to harassment against the trade lanes. Additionally, the battle on the surface of Leeds is still ongoing and it's reasonable to assume it occupies the best and most Royal ground forces in the region. These can bring us tremendeous advantage seeing as an assault and invasion necessitates very different means from what the Royals deploy against Gaian raiders for instance. Nevertheless - much of the Royal fighters could be drawn away from Harris' vicinity should a diversion be staged against the trade lanes between Holman and the Leeds gate.

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~ Fleet Section Chief S-4 Gaetan Moliere

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