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The task force jumps into the gravity well of Anx Minor above the northern hemisphere, where it’s predicted that the planet’s defenses will be the weakest. The opposite side of the planet is even more lightly defended, though deploying the ground forces over the ocean would have left them defenseless against the Republic’s own ground forces, which are safely behind the shielded southeastern quadrant of the planet. Fighting on the ground will be more intense after landing in the northern hemisphere, though it will be on much more even ground, and the faster deployment should tip the scales back into your favor.
In space, the situation is different. With Anx Space’s battlecruiser not being present, nothing in the Republic fleet comes close to the tonnage of your fleet’s three Lucrehulks. Otherwise, the task force has twice as many destroyer-class vessels than the defenders, though Acclamator assault ships are more well suited to battling ships of their size than the Munificent heavy frigates which serve a similar role in the Confederate Navy.
As soon as the last of the Munificents and Fantails, which serve as the rearguard, finish jumping into the system, you give the order for the forwardmost Munificents and Hardcell-class pickets to open fire with their ion armaments into the Golan SpaceGuns suspended in space above Anx Minor’s north pole. Hardcells are small, relatively fast transports fielded by the Techno Union converted to serve as anti-starfighter pickets thanks to their point defense lasers’ omnidirectional range, as well as their outsized missile capacity.
The Golan’s lights quickly wink out under the ion bombardment, even as it scrambles what the fleet’s sensors pick up as two squadrons of Z-95 Headhunters. Likely mercenaries or Antarian rangers, as the Republic’s chosen starfighter is the lightly-armed and nimble V-19 Torrent. The three Dreadnaught-class cruisers flanking the defense platform also disgorge their fighters, the aforementioned V-19s, likely flown by Clone pilots. The heavy guns at the prow of the lead Recusant quickly destroy one of the northern Golan’s screening Carrack-class frigates along with the opening ion salvo.
>(1/3)
