Cavalry Charge (SH11)

## Cavalry ChargePart of Operation Cavalry

In Y182 the Grand Alliance (the Federation, Gorns, Kzintis, and Tholians) were breathing a bit easier than they had been for five years. There had been a few victories, but those had been expensive. The heavy carrier MacArthur had gone down over Remus, but the Romulans were now beyond any offensive action. The balance of power had shifted toward the Alliance, and the council could afford to scrape up a battle fleet and mount another serious offensive.

After long discussions, it was decided to transfer several Gorn ships to the Klingon front where they would form the nucleus of the new battle fleet. The alternative, favored by the Federation and Gorns, was to mount yet another operation against the Romulans, totally knocking them out of the war. The Kzintis demanded an operation against the Klingons to relieve pressure on their frontier (which at that time was virtually non-existent as both the Lyrans and the Klingons had suffered serious reverses), and since no operation could be mounted without Kzinti support (and Kzinti ships), their proposal was finally accepted. Federation, Gorn, Kzinti, and even Tholian ships were brought together to create a combined force. The actual campaign of "Operation Cavalry' lasted most of a year and included a dozen battles (leading to its ultimate defeat), but the battle portrayed in this scenario was the largest.

The ships available to the Klingons to oppose this operation were, like those of the Alliance, a mixed bag. The recent reverses had seriously depleted the reserves of both the Klingon and Lyran Empires. The Lyrans had not recovered from the disastrous and unauthorized attack by the Red Claw Duchy on the WYN Cluster(Operation Lionheart), and the Klingon's own failed attack on the Cluster (Operation Riposte had further undermined the stability of Klingon defensive positions before the Kzinti Hegemony. It was here that the Alliance chose to strike.

The Klingon Red Fleet was under the command of Group Admiral Ardak Kumerian, a tough officer with a proven record for iron discipline, but not known as a tactical genius. (The Red Fleet was originally an operational training command, but had been deployed during the military emergency caused by Operation Cavalry.) Kumerian's brother-in-law, Tar Bordrake, commanded the penal ship IKV Purgatory. The admiral's son, Kollos Kumerian, commanded a mixed PF flotilla. The Lyrans were nominally under the command of Vice Duke Lambeth (a mindless fop who was Duke Rogel's senior surviving heir) but had been integrated into the Klingon fleet as a result of his inability to command.

The Alliance Fleet was under somewhat awkward command arrangements. Gorn Admiral S'Treleg was nominally in command but refused to give any but the most vague orders. Commodore Philip Kosnett, the Federation's senior officer, was the best commander present but did not assume command until late in the battle. When he did, Tholian Commodore Brezgonne supported him. The Kzinti SCS and its support group were under the command of Vice-Admiral "Cat Who Sleeps With Dogs." Admiral "Cat" defiantly insisted that his force be allowed to operate independently. This independence also allowed him to avoid becoming too heavily engaged without impugning his honor and kept the Hegemony intact for her role in a later political conflict within the Patriarchy. (Admiral Cat was already negotiating for his position in this New Kzinti Order, a fact not known at the time but which later explained his strange conduct.)

## Aftermath

At the height of the battle, the IKV Victory became separated from the main Coalition formation when it pressed ahead to exploit a gap developing in the Alliance formation. The flanking Lyran ships failed to follow it, although the carrier Commodore Mak Kroree did. A massed strike of Kzinti drones overwhelmed the Victory's defenses and the ship blew apart. The Kroree was damaged in the explosion and exploded when Kosnett scored a rare full-salvo hit with overloaded photons. The Victory's boom successfully separated, and while the remaining Klingon ships gathered to its defense, the Lyran ships turned and disengaged.

Hopelessly outnumbered now, the Klingons fought a desperate rear guard action. One by one, they were destroyed, the Purgatory going down first, followed by the Valorian and then the Conqueror.

Finally, the Victory's boom, along with a few of the remaining ships, managed to break contact from the battered Alliance force (four Alliance ships, as well as four PFs, were lost). Commodore Kosnett was quick to organize a pursuit, however, and Kumerian would never make it back to base. (SL2)

## References

1. ↑ Steven V. Cole (1999; 2012). *Star Fleet Battles Advanced Missions*. (Amarillo Design Bureau), pp. 165–6.