Ha, wasn't even a Queen. That'd be the Imperiouse or Serkr Group, methinks. The Carthage would be some other power piece, yes, but not the Queen.
I actually meant the Imperieuse when I talked about the Queen.
Pretending the Queen is out of the game and promote the Carthage for the time being, it is the perfect bait, 'cause, as we know, the UEF wanted desperatly to deal a heavy blow to the TEVs...Damn shame Steele lured them into his trap.
Considering the Deadalus base...the Tevs are able to jump meson bombs, while they won't send a meson bomb to said base and demand them to stand down, what about a realy huge EMP?
We know the Tevs got EMP missiles, but what about a meson bomb sized EMP warhead, which would simply disable the whole defensive systems, so they can jump in and destroy them?
And does that mean that the UEF has Mjolnir like torpedo platforms?
Queen? Not even the Imperieuse is a queen. It's a rook.
The queen would be the Atreus. With that experimental sprint drive and whatever other modifications/experimental tech Steele decided to use, she's got both the mobility, range, and power of a queen on a chess board.
The Carthage is more like a bishop, or a knight. Serker is most definitely a knight.
What was lost at the battle in Delenda Est?
For the GTVA, it was a destroyer's fighter wings, and major (but repairable) damage to all but the Carthage. Strategically, the existence of a fully-repaired Imperieuse in Sol (that was believed to be in DS under repair and resupply) became known to the UEF, too. But only barely, really, as hardly anyone on the Indus seems to have survived to tell the tale.
For the UEF, it was the complete loss of the War Gods, an elite task force made up of four frigates, two cruisers, several fighter wings, and several of the best pilots and captains in the UEF. They also took some logistical damage when baiting the Carthage at the beginning. The Indus MIGHT be capable of repair, but doing so would take months; the damage sustained is massive and extensive, and much of its crew and command staff are dead or in need of serious and constant medical treatment for months.
In other words, the UEF took a gigantic military and morale loss. The GTVA took a temporary military setback, but a massive morale victory. Only a destroyer's worth of fighter wings was lost--though the Carthage's carrier capacity is probably the lowest in the GTVA for a destroyer.
As soon as the Carthage's battle group is repaired, the GTVA should launch a three-pronged assault on three vital UEF assets. The UEF commits a big chunk of their forces to save each of them, or they lose whichever one they don't try to save. Hopefully, a Solaris will show up to at least one of them.
Wherever a Solaris--or its equivalent--shows up, two of the other GTVA battle groups, held back in reserve, jump in and ambush it. One dead Solaris--or a ton of UEF frigates. Expect Serker to act in a similar fashion on a smaller scale.
Once that's accomplished, assuming it's possible or opportune, the GTVA battle groups will jump out. Pegasi fighters will monitor the UEF's situation throughout; if they see an opportunity for Serker (or even the Atreus, if possible) to take out a frigate or two, they'll send word.
Losses on the UEF's side will be utterly devastating. The GTVA will have an AWACS with each battle group, so their beams will always be on target. TAG missiles will also be used, as a backup. With the GTVA's sufficient AAA and fighter cover, only the Narayana class's gauss cannons will present a significant threat outside of the GTVA's effective range. However, they can't do nearly enough damage in time, as they'd lose those vital UEF assets by the time it started working. And, you know, those battle groups the GTVA has in reserve.
The GTVA has no doubt already positioned several Mjoilner sentry guns at the jump node, and will likely still have several ships there for defense. Any UEF attempt to destroy the Knossos gate on the other side will require serious strategic planning ahead of time, and will require enough ships to withstand heavy losses. Not an option in their present state under the situation. Plus, any such action, if successful, would ensure total defeat when the GTVA's Sol fleet accept heavy losses and go for the throat. If such an action is unsuccessful, then the GTVA gets "scared" and deploys another battle group (or two) to Sol. Well, NOW it's game over.
