Void Fleet Interception - 10/26

FROM: Crono Arinborn
TO: Blaze of Glory Posting Board, Puño del Libertad Posting Board, Falls of Clyde Posting Board, Related Gatekeeper Mailing Lists
CC: Captain Ralf Derrison
BCC: Officer Kass Rooks, Captain Ethan Rooks, Captain Vincente Martinez, Officer Malcolm Freed

The following included is a summary of last night's briefing and immediate thoughts in follow up. Anyone with further notes or concern should add them.

As of yesterday afternoon, Marshalship forces intercepted an encoded Void transmission. With the cooperation of a former Void commander, this message was deciphered, detailing the jump of a sizable portion of its fleet back to their home station after completion of trade for star ship weaponry. Specifics aside, these weapons, give what was learned, are designed specifically for space to surface usage. The implication that follows is that the Void is looking to steer away from reliance on the Gift in order to fulfill one of their common tactics. We cannot allow this.

Due to time constraints and severity of the topic, the Marshalship is being forced to respond under less than ideal circumstances, but will be preparing for the worst in any scenario regardless. Three capital ships of our own, The Blaze of Glory, The Falls of Clyde, and the Puño del Libertad are being sent to intercept the Void's exit with their new weapons. The difficulty of the task comes in three fold.

First, coordinates given are within a rather broad range. The most likely location has been calculated, but it is highly probable that we may have to divert some effort into locating them. Speed will be necessary under such circumstances, before they can establish dimensional contact to get ported out through early warning.

Second, once situated, we still must assure denial of any Gift-related retreat Reven may attempt from afar in response to our attack. Given the Blaze's past success in counter spelling the Gift, we will be preparing for just such an event. I'd recommend reviewing Genevieve's discussion here for further detail.

Third, the tactics for the encounter itself. To divide this into manageable thoughts, the first topic of consideration should be the Void forces themselves. Of what we know so far, three capital ships will be present.

The first is the Leviathan, the flagship of Dietrich Weber, shown here. Its structural flaws are obvious, relying on its shielding and heavy armor to take the brunt of attacks. Its long range weaponry is lacking, primarily outfitted with point cannons. Its also likely this vessel will serve as the primary command unit and hangar for any fighter craft or Death Angels launched into the fray. It does have one strange aspect to it, however, centered within the nose of the ship - an EMP generator.

This device emits a spherical pulse through a fairly large radius. Due to the lack of constraint on it, its safe to assume the Leviathan is insulated against any EMP itself. Likewise, due to carrying their own EMP devices, Death Angels are similarly insulated. However, any further variants of fighters boarded are unlikely to hold the same, and due to the autonomous nature of the two other vessels (to be detailed momentarily), its unlikely they will be either.

Tactics: Simply put, distance should be kept from the Leviathan at all costs. With no long range to speak of for itself, it will be relying upon its own fighters and the support of the other vessels for its defense. Bombardment from afar and forcing its fighters to engage within our own short-range defenses will be key. If any of our own are caught within an EMP release, they'll be in an extremely vulnerable position amongst the sheer numbers we're expecting both sides to possess.

Likewise, this EMP generator may be a clutch we can exploit. Using a variant on Shaila's Electro Blaster design, I'm in the process of fitting one of the Blaze's cannons with a discharge beam that will not only be capable of destroying the generator when we breach the Leviathan's shields, but will overload in the process, causing a final EMP to trigger as a result. If the Leviathan appears in danger, we may see one of the other capital ships move closer in its defense, or may be able to take some number of fighters out of commission, so long as we can steady a shot with this from afar without endangering any of our own and trigger a release.

The second capital ship is the Eye of Multiplicity: piloted only be Damon Decantes, or rather, a large number of his clones. The ship itself can be seen below.

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The ship is a large sphere, orbited by many smaller versions of itself. Schemata shows it equipped with both long and short range photon cannons, mines, and Type 00 missiles.
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This ship will likely become our priority target, due its general balance and therefore overall contribution. On top of that, the size of forces once again work against us in this case. Launching Type 00 missiles into a large scale fray increases their odds of catching someone off guard simply due to the sheer number of focuses the combatants will already be watching. As a reminder based on study from our first sighting of them, and others, these missiles will teleport out of existence and port in elsewhere, splitting into several smaller missiles for a final collision course, but carry no built-in tracking mechanisms themselves. So long as you can get out of its new course on re-entry, you should be clear.

One thought proposed would be to send a boarding party onto the Eye to turn Damon's focus from the outer battle to the inner. This opportunity may or may not present itself, pending what more we can learn of the Eye's defenses on site. It would be foolish to try and force this maneuver if the satellites orbiting the main ship posed significant deterrence. However, given the vessel is only half the size of the Blaze in comparison, bringing its defenses down with little cost may not prove impossible. Boarding notes will be listed below.

The third vessel is the one we know the least about. Deciphering messages seem to hint it as a contracted work made outside of immediate the Void faction. It carries no living crew, fully automated, and seems to be outfitted primarily with stealthing and jamming technologies, though potentially more. Given that, it may be hard to target, but when it becomes a viable one, its defenses likely won't hold up to much. Any ECMs we can offer to stall or hinder its influence will be ideal until that opportunity arises. Its also a possibility that a boarding party could infiltrate this over the Eye and have an even easier time disabling it than that of a vessel with a live crew.

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Boarding Discussion:
There are a few things to consider should the opportunity to board the Eye of Multiplicity arise in the midst of the conflict.

First, Damon Decantes' nature and powers should be understood by all those involved. Based on information from the Falls of Clyde's experiences, it has been discovered that Damon Decantes takes roughly anywhere between 3-5 seconds to clone himself, though those clones can be anywhere from 3-5 in number. This does, however, require some mental effort on his part likewise. It is this ability that makes him dangerous. As a single combatant, he is not much of a threat. He simply seeks to overwhelm. Therefore, in the event of any boarding, acting quickly to sift through the vessel completely will be key to prevent any real trouble. We will have priority areas to secure on board to bring the ship out of combat, but an ENTIRE purge will be necessary in order to ensure he does not gain the time to overwhelm us in turn.

Second thing to note, given that the ship is piloted through the understanding of one individual alone, it is also a possibility that we could convert the Eye into something productive on our end mid-battle once secured. Simply put, gaining the access of one is likely to gain the access for all of 'him'. Feasibility of this will have to be decided on site, pending specifics, but its a thought that should be kept in mind for all who choose to board.

All this in mind, I beg each individual to consider their placement before our departure. As mentioned, any concerns or thoughts should be brought to the attention of all immediately. Also discussed in Genevieve's details are contingencies in case of deceptions or worst case scenarios on the Void's response to our arrival. I would urge all to be familiar with them.

-Crono Arinborn