Battle of Node 17

*"We've lost powers from decks six through thirtee-"*

*"Damnit what the hell are the bloody fighters even doing, the useless pieces of s-"*

*"They're ramming us! And they're coming like bloody fli-"*

-Transcripts from the line of battle at Node 17.

*"Node 17, Where the Best and Bravest of the Federation fought in a battle to the death. May their names forever be etched in stone, an eternal monument to their bravery in the face of overwhelming odds. Lies, all of it. It was a massacre, not a battle."*

*"How do you know?"*

*"Not everyone gets screwed over."*

*Anonymous Survivor and a Historian on the Battle, 2300*

The **Battle of Node 17** was a battle of the Federation Civil War, Undertaken by The Rebellion against The Federation around Node 17 on 22 March 2698. Codenamed **Operation Nebula Steel**, the Rebel ambush led to the destruction of 12 Federation Cruisers and 19 Federation Scouts attached to the 3rd Federation Fleet. This resulted in the escape of the admiral, and the loss of a sizeable amount of cruisers and scouts, and a massive overhaul in Federation doctrine afterwards.

## Background

After the Fall of the Flagship on the 12th March, The Rebellion faced imminent defeat as Federation Ships began capturing and destroying large numbers of disorganized Rebel ships. Admiral Terest, after barely escaping the collapsing Flagship, recognized the hopelessness of the situation and attempted to escape the slaughter, gathering the intact and operational parts of his fleet, along with a number of damaged, albeit surviving Rebel auto-scouts that were able to join him using an FTL jump.

This did not go unnoticed by the Federation, who chased Terest in hot pursuit. Forces detached in said pursuit were ordered by any means possible to either destroy or capture Terest's flagship.

## Preparations

By the 21st of March, Terest and his remnant fleet were running out of fuel. In a last bid to lose their pursuers, Terest and his subordinates hatched Operation Nebula Steel.

## The Battle

On 22 March, In order to catch Terest, The Federal Fleet hurried to New Adelaide, where he had docked earlier that day. But on their way, They fell into Terest's trap. The state of shield technology in that era did not protect well against slow-moving targets, such as missiles, and larger targets, such as ships- as both had been overlooked in designing shields, since missiles charge for longer, and do less net damage than lasers over time. The Auto-Scouts began a mass kamikaze attack on the Federation fleet, destroying all scouts and all but one cruiser, which had been overlooked by the Rebel intelligence. However, That ship's luck began to run out, And soon it too was under assault by the Auto-Scouts. Soon the situation became dire, And that ship's captain was dragged out of the command pit and thrown into an escape pod by an Ensign, Who saluted the captain one last time as the ship was blown to smithereens.

## Aftermath

Although it was unable to turn the tide of the civil war, The Battle of Node 17 renewed Rebel morale and allowed Admiral Terest to safely retreat to fight another day.

The Federation framed it as a heroic last stand, Creating a memorial, Whose inscription read "*Node 17, Where the Best and Bravest of the Federation fought in a battle to the death. May their names forever be etched in stone, an eternal monument to their bravery in the face of overwhelming odds.*"