Two small interstellar polities – the Star Kingdom and the Confederation – have had strained relations with
each other for some years now. Diplomatic conditions have worsened, leading to a state of interstellar war.

We take you now to one of the opening skirmishes of the war. Beaumaris, a sparsely-inhabited fringe
system in Confederation space, was lightly patrolled by the frigate Frostwind and by a provincial patrol
craft, the Wanderfar. While they were approaching the local gas giant, they detected the Star Kingdom
Intruder Sir Tanelorn just exiting jump space. The Confederation ships immediately moved to intercept,
and their higher maneuverability allowed them to confront the Tanelorn before it could refuel and strike
deeper into Confederation space.

The combatants:

CSS Frostwind, Confederation Frigate, designed for patrol and escort duties.
FF-2302 Frostwind FF-D4356F2-440100-47808-0 MCr3888.086 4kdtns
Batteries (all bear):         4     311 1   Crew=58. TL=12.
Passengers=0. Low=44. Cargo=28. Fuel=1440. EP=240. Agility=3.
Marines=25.
Backup Model/3fib Computer. 2 30dtn Ship's Boats. Onboard Fuel
Treatment. 4 Pilots
100dtn PAW Bay, 50dtn Missile Bay, 50dtn Fusion Gun Bay.

CCS Wanderfar, Confederation paramilitary escort.
SS-1109 Wanderfar SS-31344E1-600000-05002-0 MCr328.382 300dtns
Batteries (all bear):                1  1   Crew=8. TL=12.
Passengers=0. Low=0. Cargo=18. Fuel=102. EP=12. Agility=0.
Onboard Fuel Treatment.

Confederation Gunned Pinnaces (2 aboard the Frostwind).
KG-8811 Gunned Pinnace KG-0205521-230000-10001-0 MCr30.7 30dtns
Passengers=10. Cargo=4. Fuel=1.5. EP=1.5. Agility=1. Crew=2. TL=12

HMSS Sir Tanelorn, Star Kingdom Intruder, designed for independent commerce raiding duties.
JR-7602 Sir Tanelorn JR-E1323F2-040100-60009-0 MCr3228.28 5kdtns
Batteries (all bear):            A     4   1   Crew=87. TL=12.
Passengers=0. Low=86. Cargo=89. Fuel=1650. EP=150. Agility=1.
Marines=40.
20 30dtn Fighters. Launch Tube for 30dtn craft. 2 30dtn Ship's Boats.
44 Pilots. On board fuel treatment.
100dtn Missile Bay.

Star Kingdom Armed Boats (2 aboard the Sir Tanelorn).
KB-9988 Ship's Boat KB-0205521-230000-10001-0 MCr30.7 30dtns
Passengers=10. Cargo=4. Fuel=1.5. EP=1.5. Agility=1. Crew=2. TL=12
Craft has a bridge.

Star Kingdom Strike Fighters (10 aboard the Sir Tanelorn).
KS-4777 Strike Fighter KS-0106A31-330000-100001-0 MCr50.766 27dtns
Passengers=0. Cargo=0.05. Fuel=2.7. EP=2.7 Agility=2. Crew=2. TL=12.
Craft has a bridge.

Star Kingdom Heavy Fighters (5 aboard the Sir Tanelorn).
KF-2870 Heavy Fighter KF-0106A31-200000-040000-0 MCr54.2 30dtns.
Passengers=0. Cargo=.1. Fuel=3. EP=3. Agility=0. Crew=2. TL=12.
Craft has a bridge.

Star Kingdom Missile Fighters (5 aboard the Sir Tanelorn).
KM-2990 Missile Fighter KM-0106831-200000-000002-0 MCr39.45 20dtns
Passengers=0. Cargo=0. Fuel=1.6. EP=1.6 Agility=3. Crew=2. TL=12.
Craft has a bridge.

[Designer’s note: the Confederation squadron came to MCr4277, the Intruder with fighter complement
came to about MCr4265. The difference in squadron costs were around 0.2%, which I decided was close
enough. Yes, the Wanderfar is just there to spend a few hundred MCr.]

What followed was a hard-fought Confederation victory, as the two Confederation patrol vessels managed
to destroy the Star Kingdom fighter squadron and capture (then destroy) the crippled intruder. The
Confederation ships took significant damage in the process, enough to require Frostwind to retire to the
naval base in a nearby system. Wanderfar volunteered to remain on station, though her field-repaired
weapons were unreliable, to observe system traffic until another patrol group could arrive. When the
Confederation Light Cruiser Ascension arrived fifteen days later, there was no trace to be found of
Wanderfar or her crew.

High Guard Battle Report

Round 1. Range long, Tanelorn launches all fighters, Frostwind launches a Ship’s Boat. All ships are in
the line on both sides.
Frostwind takes a severe nuclear missile hit, doing Weapons-3 hits on both her Missile Bay and her Particle
Accelerator Weapon (PAW) bays. With this one hit, her main weaponry loses almost a third of its
effectiveness. A shower of nuclear missiles from the fighter squadron misses Frostwind, and she lashes out
at the Tanelorn. Two fuel hits cost Tanelorn much of her remaining fuel, and then a nuclear missile strikes
– an Interior Explosion! Tanelorn is rocked by the fireball, but fortunately for her the damage is light –
only her Nuclear Dampener is damaged, but it was too light to fend off Frostwind’s nuclear missile bay
anyway.

Round 2. Star Kingdom gains initiative, closes range. Frostwind launches another Ship’s Boat. Tanelorn
retreats to the reserve, trusting her fighters to claw down the Confederation craft a bit before she returns to
finish them off.
Frostwind lashes out at the Fusion-armed Assault Fighters, taking four of them out of the fight outright and
leaving the fifth’s maneuver drive crippled. A Strike Fighter is also taken out of the fight. Frostwind
manages to emerge from the massed fusion fire of her opponents unscathed, but pulse lasers and nuclear
missiles from the Strike and Missile fighters pummel Wanderfar. She manages to put a fusion bolt of her
own right into a Strike Fighter’s cockpit, but in the process her missile turret and part of her fusion battery
are knocked out. Her fuel tanks are hit as well, almost draining her tanks dry – as she had only jumped in
recently herself, her jump tanks were as empty as those of Tanelorn.

Round 3. Confederation initiative, close range maintained. Tanelorn is still in reserve.
Frostwind still evades the surviving assault fighter’s gun, but Wanderfar continues to suffer from the
attentions of the Strike and Missile Fighters – her fusion guns are knocked out altogether. Frostwind swats
at the more agile Strike Fighters, managing to take out two of them. The Ship’s Boats attempt to finish off
the crippled Assault Fighter to no avail.

Round 4. Star Kingdom initiative, close range maintained. Tanelorn returns to the line of battle,
Wanderfar retreats to the reserve.
Frostwind fires on the Tanelorn, slightly damaging her missile bay and costing her more precious fuel.
Tanelorn responds by damaging Frostwind’s maneuver drive (maneuver-1 hit), two fuel hits and a hit on
her missile bay – weapon-1. Now that Frostwind’s missile bay is so badly damaged, Tanelorn’s large array
of sandcasters can prevent most missile attacks from hitting almost at will. The Strike and Missile Fighters,
having no good targets available, pound Frostwind’s hapless Ship’s Boats – the crews survive, but their
craft are broken hulks.

Round 5. Confederation initiative, range remains close. Wanderfar still in reserve.
Frostwind takes more damage to her Particle Beam weapon, and to her fusion gun. A lucky hit also knocks
out all her Laser batteries in one shot! She responds in kind, though; Tanelorn loses half her maneuvering
capability, all but one of her Laser batteries and spills half her remaining fuel into space.

Round 6. Star Kingdom initiative, range opens to long. Wanderfar still in reserve.
Frostwind and Tanelorn exchange shots, as the surviving fighters fire to no effect. Frostwind loses some
sandcasters, Tanelorn loses sandcasters and some of her missile bay. The Star Kingdom commander is
starting to see the writing on the wall.

Round 7. Star Kingdom initiative, range remains long. Wanderfar still in reserve.
Things go from bad to worse for Tanelorn, as a one-sided exchange of fire knocks out her maneuver drives,
spills almost all of her remaining fuel and knocks out the rest of her laser batteries. Frostwind is unscathed,
the remaining five Missile Fighters and seven Strike Fighters are unable to connect.

Round 8. Star Kingdom initiative, range remains long. Wanderfar still in reserve.
Frostwind has a close call as her nuclear dampener barely snuffs one of Tanelorn’s nuclear missiles. Had
Tanelorn’s missile bay been undamaged, it would have broken through with ease. Tanelorn, still unable to
maneuver, fends off Frostwind’s missiles with her sandcasters but loses weapons to a Particle Beam hit.

Round 9. Confederation initiative, range becomes close. Wanderfar still in reserve. As Tanelorn’s
maneuver drives are still out, her fighters take the line while she attempts repairs.

The next five rounds are made up of slow, steady erosion of surviving Star Kingdom fighters. Tanelorn is
unable to effect repairs, but Wanderfar gets some of her fusion gun battery back online. She stays in the
reserve, though, not wanting to risk her newly repaired weaponry against the surviving fightercraft.

Round 15: Breakthrough! The last Star Kingdom fighter is knocked out, and Frostwind presses the attack
against Tanelorn. No damage this round, but it’s effectively all over.

The pounding continues for another seven rounds, as Tanelorn loses weapons. Her fuel tanks go dry,
causing her computers to fail. This leaves her sandcasters – the only thing holding off Frostwind’s nuclear
missiles – unable to match Frostwind’s electronic warfare advantage. Internal explosions and critical hits
soon follow. During round 19 about 90% of Tanelorn’s crew is killed or injured; the rest fall in round 20.
Tanelorn’s marine contingent – sufficient in size to hold off Frostwind’s smaller group – is neutralized by
missile strikes in round 22, leaving the Tanelorn a near-lifeless hulk.

Almost eight hours after the Confederation vessels first sighted the Tanelorn, she was theirs. Frostwind
sent boarding parties to search for survivors and gather intelligence data, but there was little success at
either effort. A handful of Star Kingdom starfighter crews were alive in their crippled craft when they were
overhauled, but most of those still aboard Tanelorn were beyond help. In all, some thirty loyal Star
Kingdom subjects (of the original complement of some 171) were transported in Frostwind’s hangar bay
back to hospital and prisoner of war housing.

Tanelorn herself was judged to be too damaged for a serious salvage project. As the Confederation ships
were in no shape to protect her from possible recapture, the captain of the Frostwind had Tanelorn towed
into a decaying orbit above an uninhabited moon of the local gas giant.

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Copyright 2001 Walter G. Smith.