Battle of Gregorsoh

The Battle of Gregorsoh was a space battle between the Saegon Empire and United Tribune. It was the first major conflict between the two, foreshadowing the long and bloody war to come.
== Pre-Battle ==
The Saegon Empire had the Seventh Fleet moving through neutral territory, neither controlled by the Tribune nor occupied by allied forces. It was mostly free of worlds, only a few dwarfs and a dying sun populated the sector. The fleet was acting as a buffer between the two zones of power, engaging any enemy fleets should they come by.
The Tribune had for a while been building up a massive fleet. While it didn't contain powerful ships, it possessed hundreds of light and medium vessels, enough to keep the Saegon Navy occupied.
== Tribune Goal ==
Empress Opal had convinced Chief Commodore Vaultsaac that if the Tribune fleet was able to at the very least destroy a single Saegon fleet, even with the cost of the entirety of their own fleet, the impact would be enough to shock the enemy and make a hole in their defenses and morale to invade a number of former Tribune worlds, taking them back and reinforcing them with the recent surplus of soldiers. While the Commodore was skeptical of the Tribune Navy's ability to destroy the Saegons powerful ships, he figured a combined ambush on the Tenth Fleet would work. He ordered the ships to wait in empty space for the Tenth Fleet to arrive at Uitis for refueling.
== Late Change ==
Because Tribune ships were staffed with sailors from multiple species and their respective governments, the Tribune fleet still needed to coordinate and designate their command structure. This time slot, now abandoned, allowed the Tenth Fleet to reach Uitis unhindered. However, Admiral Solemjo, now directing the Tribunes first official fleet (consequently named the Tribune First Fleet), still believed he could ambush them when they reached a checkpoint at Gregorsoh due to reports of Saegon scouts on the planet.
After about three hours of setting up and waiting, Saegon ships began to emerge, with Admiral Solemjo opening fire from his command ship, the other ships in the fleet soon following. Over holo-transmission, Chief Commodore Vaultsaac watched the hostile ships arrive. As additional enemy vessels came into the fray, he noticed some Vanquisher-class Destroyers, something the 10th Fleet was supposed to lack. He suspected something was amiss, his suspicion suddenly confirmed with the arrival of a Kalci-class Command Cruiser with Admiral Orquege's personal insignia painted on the sides. At this moment both the Chief Commodore and Admiral realized this fleet was not the 10th but in fact the 7th.
== Battle ==
The Tribune fleet, now dealing with a much more powerful foe, had to accommodate for ship shredders such as the Ripper and Vanquisher. Regardless, two hours of fighting left few vessels left on the First Fleets side, with hundreds more on their foes. Admiral Solemjo ordered his crew to evacuate the ship, planning to charge the enemy in sacrificing for his cause. Realizing this, his crew refused and stayed with him. As he charged, more ships did the same, until every ship left was at full speed towards the enemy. The Saegon ships shot one down after another, now much easier with all the enemies shield power directed to the engines. Despite this, over thirty Tribune ships crashed into Saegon vessels, destroying most of them while disabling another three. The crew's sacrifice took many Saegon with them and completed the shock on the enemy they had planned in the first place.
== Aftermath ==
Though the First Fleet was able to put the Seventh Fleet out of commission, it came at the cost of no survivors on their end. Admiral Solemjo and his sailors were all killed, along with the ships they utilized. This left a gaping hole in allied defenses and caused mourning throughout the United Tribune. Later, outside sources identified Gregorsoh was, in fact, a designated testing ground by the Saegon Navy. The Seventh Fleet was testing a new prototype laser weapon when they were ambushed. Though the weapon failed to work in the battle (canceling its development) the fleet was still built against ambushes, thus had the upper hand in seemingly every category.
The devastation appalled the Tribune population, who demanded an answer. As Empress Opal prepared to take her due blame, Chief Commodore Vaultsaac took her place. Outraged Omote Federation citizens filled in the streets, with other Tribune species protesting their own leaders to throw out Vaultsaac, with many fearing "his" tactical failures may cost them the war. Though he would later redeem himself with a victory at the Battle of Modxco, Vaultsaac never fully recovered from his sacrifice for the Empress, who later met with him in person to thank, her gratitude leading to a secret romantic relationship between the two.