Allied Forces in the Cerberus System

Anti-Havenite armed forces in the Cerberus System appeared, when Cruiser Squadron 18 senior staff POWs escaped from PNS Tepes and destroyed it. It resulted with seizing by them StateSec planetary prison on Hades, creating the Elysian Space Navy and the biggest prison escape in history.
== Operational history ==
=== Prison break ===
Destruction of three recon shuttles from Camp Charon, as well as PNS Tepes, during Commodore Harrington's escape.
=== Assault on Camp Charon ===
A combined force of allied Cruiser Squadron 18 personnel and inmates from Camp Inferno seized StateSec headquarters on Hades.
:See: Operation Lunch Basket
=== Shilo Force takover ===
"Shilo Force" refers to the StateSec pacification expedition to the Seabring System, which stopped at Hades to pick up a labor force. The majority of these ships were forced to surrender and seized by the escaped prisoners. Combined with two StateSec cruisers taken earlier, the captured ships were called the Elysian Space Navy.
:See: Elysian Space Navy#Capture of StateSec Shilo Force
=== Battle of Cerberus ===
Battle of Cerberus was the only battle fought by mobile units of the Elysian Space Navy. The Allied victory allowed them to evacuate over 100 thousand remaining prisoners.
=== Evacuation of prisoners ===
There were a total of 392,651 evacuees according to state after arrival of PNS KrashnarkThe first seized ship.:
* the first convoy of five transports (from Shilo Force) evacuated over 286,000 people,
* after the battle of Cerberus, the Elysian Space Navy evacuated over 106,000 people, aboard captured transports and warships.
== Ground branch ==
During six months before seizing StateSec warships, the anti-Havenite forces in the Cerberus System were ground forces only, but with control of Hades's fixed planetary defences. During a few days after the assault on Camp Charon, the security detail and other services, like Charon Control and the camp's hospital, were staffed by Infernoites onlyex-slaves weren't trusted.
=== Senior officers ===
Admiral Harrington did not establish her regular staff. She organized common meetings with all officers in charge with crucial branches and their deputies, however. The senior officers in the Cerberus System were:
* Captain (SG) Alistair McKeon - de facto Executive Officer, charged with naval duties later.
* Rear Admiral Harold Styles - Commanding Officer of the personnel branch, arrested for insubordination after PNS Krashnark was seized,
* Commander Cynthia Gonsalves - second in command in the personnel branch, joined when the military tribunal was disbanded. Later Commanding Officer of the personnel branch, then Commanding Officer of the first evacuation flight and skipper of ENS Sabine,
* Commodore Jesus Ramirez - Commanding Officer of Camp Charon, charged with naval duties later,
* Captain Harriet Benson - Executive Officer of Camp Charon, charged with naval duties later,
* Commodore Gaston Simmons - Commanding Officer on Hades - he replaced Commodore Ramirez and Rear Admiral Styles,
* Commander Solomon Marchant - responsible for security flights, member of computer attack team, charged with naval duties later,
* Commander Warner Caslet - Admiral Harrington's assistant, in charge of Havenite communications procedure and hardware, finally assigned to ENS Farnese.
In everyday routine, Admiral Harrington was generally contacted through her de facto XO, Captain McKeon. Only Rear Admiral Styles was subordinated directly to Admiral Harrington. This was intended to exclude him from the tactical chain of command.
=== Camp Charon ===
==== Security ====
After succesful assault on Camp Charon a security service, comprised of Inferno prisoners, was established. Its commanding officer was appointed Lieutenant Dessouix.Besides his taylor's hobby duties. Very likely the security was responsible for a brig, as well as for a temporary prison camp, where surviving StateSec personnel were kept.
Another element of the Camp Charon security were low level recon flights, under a command of Commander Marchant and Lieutenant Commander Metcalf.
During evacuation flight, non-Marine troops could be personnel of symbolic Marine complements present on the ESN units in the Trevor's Star System.
==== Computer attack team ====
Immediately after seizing Camp Charon a team responsible for retrieving data from StateSec databases was organized, probably with Senior Chief Horace Harkness in chargeas the most competent member of the team, the senior offcer there was Commander Marchant. They helped with gaining control over Charon Control, completing a detailed prisoners list, as well as with collecting proofs of crimes from Camp Charon's visual security system.
==== Charon Control ====
Charon Control operated scanners and Hades planetary defence.
Hades fixed defence systems were not manned and consisted of minefields as well as grasers and missile launchers, located on three moons of Hades. Their strength was comparable to the firepower of three to four battle squadrons. As a quasi-naval unit, Charon Control was used by POWs for naval training purposes also.
==== Medical branch ====
Head - Surgeon Commander Fritz Montoya. There was a well equipped hospital with medical laboratory on the island of Styx. Medical problems confronted by the medical branch included:
* two hundred wounded after sezing Camp Charon, including roughly 150 StateSec personnel,
* two thousand former prisoners from Benson's camp, suffering from neurological damage caused by eating false-potatoes, including Harriet Benson and Henri Dessouix,
* over three hundred crew from PNS Hachiman and PNS Seahorse who suffered severe radiation doses in the capture of Shilo Force, half of them affected with lethal doses,
* Captain McKeon's teeth, severely damaged by a pulser butt during his StateSec captivity aboard PNS Tepes.
==== Food production ====
There were circa four hundred ex-slave agricultural laborers on Styx, operating extensive automated farms to supply the planetary population.
=== Personnel branch ===
There were over 500 thousand prisoners originally incarcerated in Hades. The personnel branch was responsible for providing them food supply with the air transport.
After six months after the assault on Camp Charon Rear Admiral Styles was arrested, so there was no need to separate personnel affairs from command on Hades. It seems Commander Gonsalvez was subordinated to Commodore Simmons. The person in charge with personnel branch after the first evacuation flight became Commodore Simmons.
==== Prisoner contact and census project ====
Commander Gonsalves was responsible for prisoner contact and the census project, as second in command at the personnel branch. That was connected with recruitment of non-allied volunteers to the armed forces, where Commodore Simmons was responsible.
:See: Allied Personnel in the Cerberus System
==== Havenite prisoners issue ====
* Prisoners of war (c.a. 80 thousands, equivalent of 32 camps), including:
** a thousand survived personnel of Camp Charon,
** c.a. 32 thousands intervention battalions' troops of the Shilo Force,
** 27 thousands of marines and SSGF troops of the Danak Sector,
** c.a. 10 thousands of the SSNF crew,
** c.a. 8 thousands of the People's Navy crew.
::Initially StateSec Camp Charon personnel was detented in a temporary prison camp on Charon. Their further history is not described. It seems they were located in the Inferno - the only empty prison camp thenAllied Forces in Cerberus filed other categories of prisoners due to prisoner census project purposes..
::After seizing of Camp Charon it was necessary to judge under the Deneb Accords the war crimes committed on Hades by StateSec personnel. It was the reason of establishing a military tribunal.
* Non-cooperable prisoners (c.a. 140 thousands, equivalent of 56 camps), including:
** 100 thousands of original political prisoners,
** 41 thousands of specialists brought by the Shilo Force.
It is not certain who was left in charge with food production and prison camps supply after the final evacuation flightIn order to disturb StateSec chain of command Charon sholudn't be left to active StateSec combatants and their commanders like Thornegrave or Gisborne.. StateSec chain of command very likely was reestablished when StateSec investigators from Haven appeared on Hades c.a. three months after the battle of CerberusJanuary 1914 PD.. It seems it was necessary to provide at least three food supply flights until than. (HH9)
== Naval branch ==
The naval force organized by the allied forces in the Cerberus System was the Elysian Space Navy.
== Assessment ==
The People's Republic of Haven suffered significant loses connected with the Elysian Space Navy activities and the Hades planetary prison escape.
==== Ships lost by the People's Republic ====
Total Havenite losses:
* 17 BC (5 captured)
* 10 CA (4 captured)
* 3 CL (2 captured)
* 2 fast attack transports (captured)
* 5 civilian transports (captured)
* 1 courier ship
==== Caused death toll ====
Ca. 34 thousands of Havenite personnel killed:
* over 3700 Shilo Force personnel,Warlord-class vessel exploded, 83% crew of Mars-class and Bacchante-class units affected with lethal radiation doses. According to novel - 4000 victims. (HH8)
* even ca. 30 thousands Danak Force personnel.
==== Taken prisoners ====
* Camp Charon surviving personnel (800-1300)
* Shilo Force and caught cruisers personnel:
** ca. 20,000 people from ships complements
** the equivalent of two ground divisions worth in StateSec intervention battalions - ca. 32,000 troops
** 41,000 technicians and supervisory personnel
* Danak Force personnel:
** some survivors from 5 remained wrecks and 500 crews from two Fast Armed Transports complements,
** ground forces - 27.000 StateSec Ground Forces troops and People's Marines
Total: ca. 18,000 of ships core crew, c.a. 61,000 troops and 41,000 technicians and supervisory personnel, which makes ca. 120,000 temporary eliminated personnel.
===Other military effects===
*Some of 400,000 of evacuated Havenite dissidents joined ranks of the Grayson Space Navy.
*Shilo Sector and Danak Sector naval defence weakened.
*Disrupted pacification and fortification of the Seabring System, recaptured by the People's Republic.
*Destruction of Hades planetary defense systems, made necessary People's Navy picket there. (HH9)
*Retrieval of top secret information. (Let's Go To Prague)
=== Public relations ===
Public relations problems appeared for the Committee of Public Safety of the People's Republic of Haven, when several secrets were revealed, like:
*the truth about Robert Pierre's Harris Assassination against the Legislaturalist government,
*the violation of the Deneb Accords, committed on Hades,
*the fact that both Honor Harrington's and Amos Parnell's executions were faked.
== References ==
Category:Elysian Space Navy
Category:Military