Major Fleet Action Reported at Hirai
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Taskforce Turia Repels Vasari Incursion….
Advent Probe Forces Ginestra Redeployment….
The Trader Emergency Coalition is reporting that a major fleet action has recently concluded at Hirai, a distant sector of the TEC frontier mostly notable for a stable wormhole that has proven popular with the merchanter class.
While details are still coming in, it appears that two TEC taskforces, under the command of Admirals Narleen Turia and Keff Zardre, successfully repulsed a Vasari incursion commanded by Vaskorus Arkun.
However, TEC is also reporting that a concurrent Advent probe into Hirai forced both TEC taskforces to redeploy to the Ginestra asteroid field. While hostilities with the Vasari have been steadily escalating, the sudden appearance of Advent forces along the TEC frontier has come as a shock.
The Opening
The Hirai action is the culmination of TEC high command’s increasing frustration with Vasari hostilities in the wake of the collapse of the Verlin Empire. After Admiral Narleen Turia’s “Last Sunrise” campaign – named so after Turia’s infamous vow that the Verlin homeworld had seen its last sunrise after a terrorist attack on Agasthenes - Vasari forces began a forceful effort to fill the Verlin power vacuum before TEC forces could consolidate their hold on the newly liberated sectors. What followed were a series of skirmishes along the TEC frontier, with Vasari Commander Vaskorus Arkun’s “Ghost Fleet” leading the harassment effort. A lengthy cat and mouse game ensued, with Admiral Turia and Commander Arkun jabbing at each other all along the border.
Anonymous sources have confirmed that Turia was the mastermind by the recent action in Hirai. Using her smaller taskforce as bait, Turia hoped to lure Arkun into committing his Ghost Fleet to a major naval action against Taskforce Turia, with the newly formed Taskforce Zardre arriving once Arkun committed himself – in short, a classic hammer and anvil tactic.
“Turia clearly achieved what she intended to,” remarked retired admiral Joren Selken. “From reports I have seen, Arkun committed his forces against Turia, only to have the rude surprise of Taskforce Zardre showing up on his flank.”
A rude surprise might be an understatement as Commander Arkun suffered the severe loss of his Kortul-class capital ship, Kavisir.
Anonymous sources confirm that Turia deliberately selected the famed warship for destruction as its annihilation would cause a severe loss of morale for the enemy. “Kavisir was the ship the led the Vasari actions at both Naeve and Epimethious. It is something of a legend to the enemy. It doesn’t surprise me at all that a vindictive commander such as Turia would single it out to make an example.”
If initial reports are accurate, Admiral Turia pinned Arkun and then signaled Zardre to jump into Hirai from its secret marshalling area. Once the two taskforces were in place, both coordinated their actions to hem in Arkun’s fleet and take down Kavisir. Fighting was heavy, with Vasari fighter and bomber wings doing considerable damage to the forces of Turia and Zardre despite the large contingent of flak barges and fighter wings that Zardre brought with him to the fight. “It was touch and go for awhile,” confirmed Lt. Cmdr. Jordan Littman of the TEC Admiralty, “but ultimately it was too much for Arkun and Kavisir. We confirmed her destruction at 2141 hours, local.”
The Admiralty was not the only one to confirm the death of Kavisir. Merchanter Ken Loomis, of Void Spray out of Jindra, also confirmed her death. “We were - that is my ship and crew - were about to make the jump to Esipov with a hold full of potable water, when we detect a massive neutrino flood on our sensors. I asked Billy - er…Billy Draon, my exec - was that a GRB [Gamma Ray Burst]? He radioed TEC traffic control but they had not received any stellar advisories. It was quite a mystery, doubly-so when other merchanters reported the same phenomenon. It wasn’t until we learned of the destruction of Kavisir that everything fell into place. That neutrino flood was the death spasm of Kavisir's reactors.”
The fate of the remains of Commander's Arkun's Ghost Fleet is unknown at this time.
According to the Admiralty, the two taskforces are now refitting at an unknown location, preparing for what surely will be strong thrust by the Advent. “They know we’re in the area, so it’s likely they will come after us, or baring that, our merchanters,” concluded Littman. “Either way, we need to be prepared for all eventualities now that we are in a two front war.”
Indeed, preparations are already underway on many fronts. The recently launched TDN Shilta, a Dunov-class battlecruiser, has departed for parts unknown. Furthermore, Governor Haron Souss, of the frontier planet Charalla, has ordered the expedited construction of citizenry fallout vaults in the case of orbital bombardment. Even the Department of Interplanetary Trade is getting in on the act by mandating reinforced hulls for all Class IV merchanters.
Updates to follow.....
PS: You can read the illustrated version by clicking on the "external link" above. 
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