[u][b]Anuria System
Oort Cloud
Ashtar Capital Ship [i]Perhaps it is Best to Redefine the Rules of Engagement[/i][/b][/u]

Far, far, far, far, [i]far[/i] from the reach of Anuria’s sun, beyond the most distant planet, not even truly in the solar system, [i]Rules of Engagement[/i] rested serenely amongst an ever growing network of repair and construction yards. As a fleet support variant capital ship, [i]Rules of Engagement[/i] was equipped with internal repair facilities corvettes, a massive swarm of repair and resupply drones, and a mining ships. These extra facilities significantly compromised her hangar availability for combat vessels, and necessitated reduced armor in some locations, but her shield and weapon emplacements were the match of any mainline capital ship. The idea behind her design was to reduce dependency on fragile fleet tenders without overly compromising combat performance, and the sheer size available to her builders had made accomplishing the design objectives quite simple.

The fact that she had transformed into a fully operational shipyard was not originally part of the design, but over the course of her 50 year stay in Anuria, it had been surprisingly easy to put together. Mining ships brought in a steady supply of raw materials from the surrounding Oort cloud--occasionally journeying farther in system for certain heavy metals--which nanofabricators could turn into components required by the yards. The Anuria task force was now almost completely supplied by [i]Rules of Engagement[/i]; arms and armor, tanks, ships, fighters, anything the task force could need. It had gotten to the point where the Anuria system was actually generating more ships and materiel than it required; cruisers from [i]Rules of Engagement[/i]’s yards were occasionally sent off towards the distant Sakturi front.

The ship’s excessive isolation was a matter of security; the Ashtar were absolutely not willing to let her be damaged, and no one was likely to stumble across [i]Rules of Engagement[/i] this far out. Incoming and outgoing ships were forbidden from jumping or gating directly to [i]Rules of Engagement[/i]’s location; instead, they had to approach at sublight from randomly assigned points. It usually tacked on several extra hours to any journey, and more than one heavily damaged ship had not survived the trip, but they were acceptable sacrifices.

On the bridge of the cruiser [i]Born of Steel and Forged in Fire[/i], Commodore Ayluna Rammael  was enduring one such journey now. They never failed to test her patience, but she recognized that the protocol was a good one. That much jump activity from a single point would set off every gravitic sensor in the system, regardless of how far away they were. She set about reviewing the plans for the attack on the Vaegir fleet.

The primary objective was the destruction of the [i]Imperator Kirov[/i], the centerpiece and tactical heart of the Vaegir fleet. The loss of one ship would of course not cripple the Vaegir, but it would serve as a severe blow to C&C capabilities and morale, both on world and at home. They would also be vulnerable to further attack, enough that the Ashtar hoped to be able to drive them from Anuria’s orbit with two or three follow up attacks. Bearing in mind the relative disposability of Ashtar personnel and materiel, the ops plan was bold, bordering on suicidal. The attack fleet was smaller than would be expected, and its heavy elements were dominated by Vigilance assault cruisers, with comparitively few Archangels present. The usual swarms of Strelnikov corvettes were flying in close formation, but they were also joined by tight formations of Swiftwind fighter drones. Traditionally, it was prudent to send fighters ahead of the main fleet in engagements to bear the brunt of the defenders’ opening fire, but that also meant giving them warning of an incoming attack. This time, the fighters would use their own tiny FTL drives to jump in simultaneously with the rest of the fleet. They would be extremely vulnerable on arrival, but that hardly mattered.

A light beeping interupted Rammael’s thoughts. She looked up at the surrounding holodisplay, seeing that the fleet had arrived at its designated departure coordinates, some 283 lightminutes from [i]Rules of Engagement[/i]. She nodded to her Operations officer. “Jump.”

Within milliseconds of eachother, the entire fleet dissapeared in a series of flashes, reappearing well in system at a standard holding position of five lightminutes from Anuria.
“All ships report jump successful. Spooling up for phase two tactical jump,” the ops officer reported.
“Recon probes?”
“We are linking in now. The Vaegir remain at last reported position. Probes report stealth systems remain operational, no overt signs of detection.”
“Very well. Signal all ships to action stations. Begin jump countdown.”

The lights all over the ship dimmed to a slightly darker blue, and an alarm klaxon sounded twice, then was silent. The crew received no further prompts, but anyone who missed the audio-visual cues could not possibly miss the general quarters message echoing through the local psynet. Externally, armoured carapaces slipped over windows and other structural weakpooints, weapons reared on and powered up, while delicate sensor arrays retreated into protected alcoves, all of it suddenly veiled by the shimmering of multiple shield layers.

The minutes ticked by agonizingly, until there was just the one left. Each second lasted an eternity, until finally “5...4...3...2...1...Jump”.

A flash, a feeling of deep discomfort from muted gravitational forces, and the fleet abruptly appeared  at point blank range from their Vaegir opponents.
“Anti-ship ordnance on all missile tubes, lock on [i]Imperator Kirov[/i] at range and fire. Energy weapons, bear on Vaegir screening elements and fire, clear us a path.”
[i]Born of Steel[/i] and the rest of the Ashtar ships roared into action, beam weapons and pulses of omega fire lashing out at nearby Vaegir ships while a veritable holocaust of missiles headed for the armored carrier at the heart of the Vaegir fleet.