[RP/MM] Turn 45 CSC vs. Niops -- 0935 Niops Invasion/Blockade [complete]

[Dave Baughman]

OK, since Niops won the rolloff, the raid will be scored as successful. I need to check a couple of things before I post my op round 2 orders.

[Dave Baughman]

"Spirit Cat forces, this is General Thomas Coulter commanding the 2nd SLDF Independent Brigade. You are trespassing on sovereign territory of a Star League member state, and have done so without a Batchal. Is it your intention to eschew honorable combat?"

[Marlin]

Andrea just raged. They use Nuclear Weapons, destroy two ships of them and talk about honorable combat??

"Whoever in the Fires of the Eden Sun you are, you dare to lecture me about any honor? You are mere scum of the universe! Whoever is responsible for this will suffer. I give you one chance to surrender unconditionally and after the investigations are over we may think about repatriating you. If not, you will be guilty of using weapons of mass destruction!"

Comms cut.

OP: I would like to know if there were any Warships in the defenders.

And I hope you dont have any nukes left..

Alpha Naval Star does not withdraw then.

[Dave Baughman]

(OOC: Yes, there were a number of small WarShips in the naval defense:

A Momentary Lapse of Reason   Vincent (Mk. 39)
Neko Bijin   Vincent (Mk. 39)
Melusine   Naga
Marlow   Tracker
Emilie   Tracker
Cassandra   Tracker

all were destroyed)

"Spirit Cats, the SLDF had nothing to do with the clearly unlawful discharge of nuclear weapons perpetrated by the Niops Association Militia. However, as the perpetrators have all been killed, we have little recourse to punish them further. Additionally, it does not change the fact that this star system is a member of the Star League and that it is my duty to protect them against invasion by any foreign party."

"As to whether or not my command are the scum of the universe, that is irrelevant to the fact that we are prepared to use all forces at our disposal to repel your invasion. I would prefer if it were a matter of my utilizing a small force, far from civilian infrastructure, in a fair and honorable fight that will spare both sides from serious losses and will give the Niops government no further... temptation to violate the Ares Conventions. However, if you insist on a general attack I cannot be held accountable for the actions of the local government - though I assure you that should the Niops military perpetrate further war crimes, we will hold them accountable at the cessation of hostilities."

[Marlin]

"Thomas, what do you propose? Make it quick. Also, the use of these weapons imply that you indeed do not have any say in the Niopsian scum's Defense Operations. How could I even start to trust your words and that the Niopsian scum would listen to you?"

[Jeyar]

From the CoPS (who only can defend Niops for now).

Niops V and VI each have 7.5 FP of aerospace on static defense duty
Niops VII has 15 FP of aerospace on static defense duty.

If this attack is on "all Niops" then it would add up to 30 FP of aerospace forces.

[Dave Baughman]

OOC - Thank you for the update, Jeyar, I would have totally missed those. These are ground-based fighters, right? If so, I'm going to assume they were held in reserve during op round 1 so we don't have to change the outcome, and just make them available in the turns that follow.

[Dave Baughman]

"Thomas, what do you propose? Make it quick. Also, the use of these weapons imply that you indeed do not have any say in the Niopsian scum's Defense Operations. How could I even start to trust your words and that the Niopsian scum would listen to you?"

"To answer your second question first, Niops will have little choice. If you defeat my SLDF troops in honorable combat, then Niops' only hope for future liberation will be relief by other members of the Star League. If they resort to nuclear arms after the battle is concluded, you have my solemn oath that I will ensure Commanding General Hall does not authorize any mission to liberate Niops. Simply put, if I win, you will depart - if I lose, Niops only hope for eventual liberation will be to submit without further outbursts of violence."

"And to your first question I propose we settle this battle with an evenly-matched battle in accord with Clan customs. This will not only ensure your forces the best chance to win glory in combat, but will also preserve the infrastructure and population present in this system - a system I should remind you is far from the front lines and your supply routes - for your use should you be victorious."

[Jeyar]

OOC - Thank you for the update, Jeyar, I would have totally missed those. These are ground-based fighters, right? If so, I'm going to assume they were held in reserve during op round 1 so we don't have to change the outcome, and just make them available in the turns that follow.

Well, they are all "transported" forces (I think these particular forces were all produced by the TC if that is of use). CoPS DOES have transportation points generated and the forces were placed on the worlds back when the planets counted as seperate targets. However with the SLDF's comments, and the fact that Niops is a member of CoPS (regardless how we use them now)...

I guess anything that makes sense that doesn't have the CoPS forces rolling over and turning over an ally to another force.

I should also point out that these forces were part of the that confusion about total strength (so the total could be just 20FP, 2 of 5 FP on the main planet, and 1 each of 5 FP on the other 2), and may have been part of the "fun" that they had the same name as Taurian forces (and where the Taurian forces were just deleated to simplify things?). The lack of push for clearification was due to more important issues in the air, and a lack of CoPS members to do anything other than a limited selection of pre-existing orders.

All to the good however!

[Marlin]

May I know what is going on?

If the Cat's Intel Roll was successful, and so far everything points to that, can I get an concise update of the forces arrayed, please?

If those forces were in to the Interdiction as static defenders, then they would count as destroyed as well?

Or will you set them up as planetary Ground support? (all hints to the latter, for ease of this I would have preferred the former. But I guess its not important.)

Any more defenders I should be aware of if the Intel was successful?

Disregard the above if it was not.

[Marlin]

OOC 2: I would like to have an overview of the mechanical options:

So far I think there was 1 phase of six, that the Cats won (barely and very badly)

Now, if they agree to the Trial, and win, could the Rest of the defenders simply go to ground? Would that count as a phase?

If they lose (Never happened before in such Trials ) then there will be a great disaster and crying and pain.

But well, most important is if they win that trial what the options are for the enemy. Other than total surrender of course.

[Dave Baughman]

May I know what is going on?

Basically, the COPS forces in the system got missed when we were doing intel (and when we did the first round of combat).

If the Cat's Intel Roll was successful, and so far everything points to that, can I get an concise update of the forces arrayed, please?

The only change neccessary to the intel results is to add 30 FP of R/R COPS aerospace forces (one 15 FP formation and two 7.5 FP formations).

If those forces were in to the Interdiction as static defenders, then they would count as destroyed as well?

Or will you set them up as planetary Ground support? (all hints to the latter, for ease of this I would have preferred the former. But I guess its not important.)

Since op round 1 was already completed when Jeyar pointed out our oversight, basically those forces sat our the first round. Either they were on ground support or they simply missed the fight due to a problem in the chain of command - that's a "fluff" issue we can work out in roleplay later on. Since they did not participate in the first round of combat, the results are unchanged and the interdiction is still broken.

Any more defenders I should be aware of if the Intel was successful?

Not that I am aware of.

Disregard the above if it was not.

OOC 2: I would like to have an overview of the mechanical options:

So far I think there was 1 phase of six, that the Cats won (barely and very badly)

Correct.

Now, if they agree to the Trial, and win, could the Rest of the defenders simply go to ground? Would that count as a phase?

The trial would could as one operational round, win or lose. I suppose the defenders could repudiate the trial and keep fighting, but of course if that occured you would be free to use all your forces on them and there would still be four rounds of combat available.

If they lose (Never happened before in such Trials ) then there will be a great disaster and crying and pain.

But well, most important is if they win that trial what the options are for the enemy. Other than total surrender of course.

The enemy options would be:

1) Withdraw from the hex (with or without safcon, depending on how you choose to play it).
2) Surrender
3) Ignore the trial results and keep on fighting (note however that any troops which didn't actually participate in the trial would be ineligible for guerilla warfare, so they would take heavy losses in the next round of fighting if that occured).

[Marlin]

Alright. That answers all I think.

This fight is actually far more important than the other small invasions on the Skye Front, so who is wanting to take that up?

[chaosxtreme]

*raises hand*

[Marlin]

Andrea's cold voice cut through the aether: "General, your proposal is acceptable. Name your forces defending and we will see to it that this will go over smoothly. However, if there is any treachery to be seen by you or those you think you need to defend, the reaction will be swift. You might want to prepare those not versed in our customs for the inevitable and that they lay down their weapons in time."