Study of Talarian Fleet Tactics
Contents
Title
A Study of Cardassian Union and Talarian Republic Fleet Tactics
Author
Lieutenant Commander, Star Fleet Tactical HQ
Abstract
Since the inception of the Cardassian/Talarian War two years ago, the Federation has kept a close eye upon both combatants, looking to understand the recent changes in ship design and tactical doctrines of both.
On Stardate 239911.28, a battle was fought around the binary system FGC-8345, close to the Federation border. Between long-distance scanning and eyewitness accounts, we have been able to glean more information on their tactics and fleet compositions.
Introduction
FGC-8345 is a mostly-typical binary star system, the two stars orbiting within three AU of each other. The system has three gas giants and two rocky planets, all orbiting the shared system center of gravity. The system has been uncolonized, despite being at a strategic point near three major powers due to the lack of habitable worlds and lack of exploitable resources.
Until recently. A survey expedition, utilizing modern techniques, was able to uncover deep deposits of several minerals, including dilithium, cortenum, and ilium, which could be used for manufacturing or trade. The Talarians claimed the system and hired a Ferengi mining consortium to set up mining operations for them, with the Talarian Republic providing security. Construction was finished on Stardate 241911.03, with mining underway simultaneously.
Opening Salvos
On Stardate 239911.28, a single Hideki-type frigate entered the FGC-8345 system, appearing at the edge of the system approximately 100 degrees spinward from the main Talarian base. Being constructed around the largest of the system’s gas giants, it was currently occluded from view, and the Hideki began to scan the system.
Talarian Republic forces in the system were at the time divided into three “patrols” of five ships. One would patrol the perimeter of the system, a second would be on active standby near the mining craft, currently mining one of the gas giant’s moons, while a third was on resupply at the station proper. Shortly after the Hideki began its scans, it was spotted by the patrol on standby, which signalled the perimeter group.
Approximately ten minutes after entering the system, the Talarian patrol confronted the lone Hideki. The patrol craft issued a warning by subspace radio, which was ignored by the Cardassians. Shortly thereafter, a warning shot was fired across the Hideki’s bow, utilizing an X-ray laser similar to that used during the Talarian’s confrontation with the USS Enterprise-D in 2367.
The Hideki, presumably confident, maintained position. At this point, the entire patrol began to bombard the ship with phase cannons. According to long range scans, these seemed broadly similar to weapons utilized by the United Earth Star Fleet at the time of the Earth/Romulan War, though they did seem slightly more powerful. The Hideki returned fire, overwhelming one of the patrol craft with a focused bombardment from its twin spiral-wave disruptors, before leaving the system. Their job completed, the Talarian patrol returned to base, limited to half-speed to keep pace with their injured companion.
Second Phase
With the Cardassians nearby, the Talarians pulled all of their forces back to their base. The Ferengi miners were repatriated to the mining facility, while the Talarians regrouped with their fourteen ships to set up a defense.
The hammer fell three hours later. The Cardassians arrived in force; they were comprised of three Galor destroyers and six Hideki frigates, arriving in system just above the orbital plane near the gas giant. They swiftly launched fighters, as well, and moved to attack the Talarian fleet.
The Talarian ships, being obligated to defend the station, held position and attempted to act in an anti-fighter role. The Talarian craft were not as maneuverable as the fighters, but fortunately they had cannons facing multiple directions and were able to cover each other well. Unfortunately, the capital ships were heading towards the station while they dealt with the fighters, causing them to pull back as they fought.
By the time that the fighters were fought off, the Talarians were down to eight craft, the remaining seven either disabled or destroyed. The eight functional craft interposed themselves between the capital ships and the station, but were outmatched. This fact was made clear when the six Hideki attacked, disabling three more Talarian ships in their opening salvo.
Fortunately for the Talarians, their reinforcements were close at hand.
Force Manipulation
As the Talarian fleet started to fall, a signal was sent from the lead warship. A tightbeam transmission, it was sent to a position just below the center point of the system, between the two stars. The unique interplay of the stars had created a small pocket of equilibrium, allowing a ship to stay there, mostly obscured from view unless you knew exactly where to look. Or, in this case, more than a ship.
After a quick warp jump, the Talarian reinforcements appeared. Consisting of a Nebula-class ship (from her warp signature, the former USS Leeds), two K’t’inga class Klingon warships, and another twenty Talarian warships. The Cardassians, recognizing the new threat, immediately maneuvered to face them, moving past the mining base to take on the new fleet, finishing off the four remaining ships from the patrol fleet as they did so.
As they dropped from warp, the two K’t’inga class fired torpedoes from their forward launchers. Specifically, plasma torpedoes, of Romulan origin from the procured sensor readings available. Both impacted on a Galor class, removing their shields and causing them to fall out of formation. The remaining ships moved to engage, maintaining fire on the native Talarian ships from range and disabling several of them with concentrated volleys as the closed the gap.
As the fleets closed, the number of Talarian ships began to tell. Three of the Hidekis were forced to fall out of formation, though they were able to inflict more damage on the native ships. The two remaining Galors concentrated fire on the Nebula, which unleashed spiral wave disruptors and a pair of quantum torpedoes from its weapon pod above the saucer. The Galors successfully dropped the Nebula’s shields, and it wasn’t prepared for the next strike.
One of the remaining Hidekis had broken away from engaging the K’t’ingas and dove at the Nebula from above. Once aligned, it unleashed a single beam from an underslung cannon. The green beam lashed out and punctured through the hull of the Nebula before the Hideki maneuvered, bringing the beam out through the side of the saucer. Secondary explosions rocked the ship, though it remained mostly intact.
The K’t’ingas took up a defensive posture around the stricken Nebula, as the ten remaining Talarian warships struck back at the Hidekis quickly. The one that fired the beam was quickly swarmed and disabled, detonating as it chose to self-destruct rather than allow its weapon to fall into enemy hands. As the K’t’ingas focused fire, they forced a second Galor to disengage, and the Cardassians withdrew from the system.
Conclusion
From the eyewitness accounts fo the Ferengi workers, sensor recordings from their station, and our own long-range scans of the system while the battle was ongoing, we can begin to paint a picture of modern tactics and fleet compositions for both the Cardassian union and the Talarian Republic.
We have known for some time that the Talarians have been purchasing ships and technologies from other powers, both to study and to apparently use inside their fleets. Expect to find the unexpected from the ships you encounter from them. We have reports of not just the observed Nebula and K’t’inga classes, but also Miranda, Excelsior, D-7, and even Romulan Birds of Prey, particularly the 23rd century design. Components and systems from each are likely to be replaced and decidedly non-standard.
The belief is that these are being used to compensate for the decidedly behind-the-times ships that they construct natively. Though their recent ships have made considerable progress technically, they are still far behind the state-of-the-art of the other galactic powers and make up for this with the borrowed tech and through sheer numbers. The most advanced systems the Talarians have is actually their emergency systems, with excellent escape pods, as well as emergency transports built in to every commbadge, designed to beam people to escape pods at a single command from the bridge or engineering - eyewitness reports show actual casualty figures as being less than five percent, despite the loss of so many ships.
The Cardassian craft, by comparison, showed a marked improvement from their ships in the First General War, despite the spaceframes being relatively unchanged. Their weapons were highly effective, and the cutting beam was quite surprising. Eyewitness accounts combined with the strange readings that our listening post detected leave the conclusion that they had incorporated Borg technology. After many discussions and analyses, we conclude that this was the only example present at this battle, though it is unknown how widespread the technology is in the Cardassian fleet.
Those interested may find the raw sensor data and eyewitness interviews in Appendix B, files 274-Alpha-J3 through Epsilon-R9. We hope this has been useful for any encountering these forces, and will continue our analysis as data presents itself.
