THE FIRST BLOW
STARDATE: 8045.8, FEDERATION TERRITORY NEAR THE KLINGON NEUTRAL ZONE, 1709 HRS FST

     
A HEAVY HAND:
Civilian Testimony –
Incident DX 13372944 – SDs 8055.9

“I’ve been on this run for almost 20 years. I’ve been attacked by pirates nearly 50 times and even had to run from the Klingons on a number of occasions. But I ain’t never seen the Klingons so intent on a nothing convoy like ours. I mean – I’d hear the rumors. Hell, rumors happen all the time. You know how it is…treasure here, pirates there. All the time; know what I mean?”

“Please sir, just stick to this event. We’ve got a lot to get to for the record.”

“Yea, yea…ok, kid. So we’re at the back of the line. I prefer it there. You can usually tell just how hard to push your engines if you know who’s really chasing you. I saw the first escort turn – I don’t remember her name. But I knew something was up. They called us a few seconds later to tell us to run. That’s when I saw the battleship on the sensors. A BATTLESHIP! Who sends a battle ship to attack a freighter full of ore?! Anyways, I heard the call go out for help. That’s when I realized there was a lot more than one battleship.”

“Did the escort commander send you any instructions?”

“OH yea! Told us to forget the robot freighters and just take off. Like I said – I’ve been doing this for 20 years. That much firepower ment they didn’t want to capture us. They wanted us dead. I woke up everyone else and just piled on the speed. I red lined the engines in just a few seconds; you should have heard Singi arguing about his engines…I though he was gona blow a gasket and…”

“Sir –“

“Hu? Oh…well, we left those robot freighters far behind. And let me tell you something! Those boys of yours just turned and stood their ground! I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Just as we got out of sensor range I heard the chatter from one of your frigates…like I said, don’t know names or nothing. OH, yea, we did detect one ship still trying to follow us. I think it was a destroyer, but don’t quote me on that. Check my sensor logs. Anyway, we managed to get about half way in system before we had to slow down for the micro meteors and stuff. I did see one robot freighter just as we entered orbit. And that was about it. By the way – how did your boys fair? Anyone get killed?”

“They did what they were trained to do. I’m sure you’ll hear about it soon enough. Thank you for your testimony. If you need a transcript, just contact my office.”

“Hey, kid – ya know what. I ain’t not strategist or nothing, but I think this wasn’t just some raid. You may wana bring that up with the higher-ups.

 

GAME SET-UP

Lay out four Star Trek Combat Simulator map-sheets in the configuration shown. This represents the area of space where the conflict takes place. Use the Graduate Starship Tactics Course rules in this scenario.

Defender
The Defending force consists of:

2 Aakeen Mk IV Class VI Freighter (Ake, Ventre)
3 Nilron Mk I Class V Freighter (NRF 312, 622, 831)
4 Zeus Mk I Class III Robot Freighter (ZRF 440, 733, 798, 1002)
1 Dwarfstar B-1 Class III Freighter (Mikelson’s Folley)
2 Jessup Mk I Class II Ore Freighter (Ore Runner, Digger)
2 Genser Mk I Class IV Escort (Donnell, Kitchener)
1 Remora MK II Class VI Escort (Hazard)

On Phase 1 of turn 3 the defending force receives the following reinforcements:

1 Abbe Mk I Class XI Destroyer (Eldin)
1 Babcock Mk II Class XI Frigate (Linden)
1 Lynch Mk II Class VII Light Destroyer (Hitchcock)

On Phase 2 of turn 5 the defending force receives the following reinforcements:

1 Kodiak Mk I Class XVI Battleship (Overby)
1 Enterprise Mk I Class XI Heavy Cruiser (Lexington)
1 Tikopai II Mk I Class XI Heavy Cruiser (Darion)

Deployment
The Defending force deploys within 15 hexes of the left edge of the combat area. All re-enforcements enter from the right side of the combat area.

Attacker
The Attacking force consists of:

1 L-24A Class XIII Battleship (Grand Victory)
1 L-9G Class X Frigate ( Marauder)>
1 L-42B Class X Frigate (Wings of Invincibility)
1 D-5J Class VII Battlecruiser (Stronghold)
4 D-30C Class IX Destroyer (Dreadful, Dagger, Engager, Hailfire)
2 D-18C Class IX Heavy Destroyer (Q’tok, K’tak Ves)
1 D-31B Class IX Cruiser (Stormbow)

Deployment
The attacking force enter from the left edge if the map.

Victory Conditions:

The attacking force wins a major victory if they can destroy 5 or more freighters. They win a minor victory if they destroy three or less. The defender wins a major victory by destroying the L-24 of more than 5 other Klingon vessels.

SPECIAL RULES:

Escape:
If the attacking force can meet its objectives, they may attempt to warp out of the combat area. Campaign warp escape rules apply.

Ending:
The scenario ends on turn 12 due to massive Federation Re-enforcements.