Post Meridian

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MISSION 03
ACT 1, MISSION 03

Fighter squadron: 170th Fighting Navajas

Description: The GTD Meridian has been located, and a Task Force is dispatched to deal with her.


Background

Just as the Federation's Third Fleet completes its retreat from Jupiter to Mars, and subsequently allowing the Alliance to secure Jupiter, both Mars and Earth's satellite, Luna, are subjected to heavy fighter bombardment. Unlike previous attacks, where unarmed, unprotected civilian targets fell under a protection clause of the Alliance's BETAC and were spared from harm, this new attack does not distinguish civilian and military assets. It is believed that the Galactic Terran Assembly has activated the Total War contingency of BETAC, meaning that all hostile targets are valid targets, civilian or otherwise.

The Federation has tracked the source of the fighters to the GTD Meridian, flagship of Admiral Cyrus Severanti, the Theatre Commander of all Allied forces in Sol. Because the Meridian has deployed most of her fighter wings for the attack, leaving only a handful of fighters behind for escort, she is vulnerable to attack. The Navajas have been selected to play a crucial role in an attack on her.

While the ideal Federation attacking force would consist of a destroyer, all three Solaris destroyers are tied down and cannot assist in this battle—deploying either the Eris or Solaris would leave both Mars and Earth unprotected, and the Toutatis is in dry dock, undergoing repairs. Admiral Byrne is also unwilling to commit significant assets for this operation despite its importance, so Second Fleet, under Admiral Netreba, has bartered for tactical command of this mission in exchange for deploying the Karuna-class frigate Indus to assist in this operation.

Flying space superiority, Alpha and Beta wings of the Navajas must escort Delta wing from the 271st Gunship Squadron while they disable the Meridian's primary beam cannons.

Walkthrough

U/C

Notes

  • Federation Intel speculates that the reason why the normally cautious Admiral Severanti chose to switch to an all-out offensive is because he fears that Admiral Steele's recent gains—primarily most of Jupiter—would threaten his position as Theatre Commander.
  • Although the mission debriefings include a stage to accommodate the destruction of the Meridian, and the destroyer herself can be destroyed if she is disabled, thus being unable to flee once her hull approaches critical, her loss is very unlikely and can be considered non-canon.

Tips

  • Your survival comes first. The survival of the Indus and Churchill comes next. The survival of anyone else is not your concern.

Total number of forces

Forces involved
Belligerents