In 4349 A.D, the United Aquarian Systems, after success quelling the armed piracy cartels in the Tempest Ridge, initiated a Military Campaign against the Tigershark Cartels occupying the sectors of the Angel Nebula's eastern fringes. This was a war that was a long time coming, a final retaliation for the atrocities that the Cartels had inflicted upon the broken federation hundreds of cycles prior.
Though the UAS Military was prepared for a full-scale campaign, they did not expect the level of resistance to be so high. The Tigershark Cartels were far better equipped, organised and trained than the loosely affiliated cartels of the Tempest Ridge during Operation Tempest Liberty. The UAS would have a long-term war on its hands, but it was something they were prepared to deliver. Justice would follow swiftly.
Intelligence
Naval Intelligence established reasonably accurate data regarding Tigershark positions in the Angel Reach. Forward recon probes had detected large concentrations of combatant vessels in the far sectors of Angel Crimson Beta and Angel Crimson Delta. In addition, the astronomical data from existing archives, reinforced by new data from probes deployed into the shadow of the Angel nebula, esta blished the only direct access point for a Subspace jump into the distant system of Varal, was through an old neutral system known locally as Outlook. Enemy force concentrations within that system were high, with over 70 warships identified - this would be where the bulk of the fighting would take place, as it was assumed the Cartels would converge their forces on this system to prevent a UAS incursion of their supposed base in Varal.
Preparations
Naval Commanders formulated a campaign strategy based on a Joint Front - a defensive line splitting the Angel Reach into two distinct parts. The northern straights heading to the Crimson North Sector, and the lower open sectors in the shadow of the Nebula. Elements of the UAS Navy's Angel Sector Fleet would be tasked with holding the Joint Front, repelling any attempt by the Cartels at launching their own counter-offensive into UAS controlled space.
A large military presence was already focused around the south of the Crimson North sector, due to the on-going security operations taking place before construction of the Trans-Crimson Highway commences. A Cartel push North could potentially cut the UAS off from its new regional ally, the Vujlcyon Conglomerate, which would be a major embarrassment for the Aquarian State.
The primary advance would be carried out by fourteen Task Forces from the UAS 1st Expeditionary Fleet's Main Division, through the Angel A19 system. The first target was the strategically important system of Halo, in a small cove of traversable space on the northern tip of the Angel's Hook Nebula. Naval Commanders deemed it necessary to capture this system and establish a beachhead before the bulk of the 1st Expeditionary Fleet moved on Angel A18. With Halo under UAS control, the force charged with its capture would then proceed to dislodge the unknown Tigershark forces preset in the Angel Alpha system, completing the UAS's grip on the Strategically important Angel's Hook Nebula.
It was believed the Tigersharks would slowly move large concentrations of combatant vessels from their core systems nearl Angel-Crimson Beta, into the Reach, along the Joint Angel Front, as it was assumed they would have increased confidence in the early stages of the campaign. With the Front established by systems protectd by UAS's finest long-range stand-off artillery, the primary force of the 1st Expeditionary Fleet was free to carve a swathe through Cartel controled space, forcing them back to Angel-Crimson Delta, where the bulk of the UAS Force would converge for a final assault on Outlook, and ultimately, Varal.
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