Intergalactic Summit

At approximately 0230 on 30.07YC118 an ARC fleet under my command entered the Conflux Hive. The fleet of around twenty cruisers entered the Hive proper, engaged and destroyed the Hikanta, and accessed the vault. During the operation, the fleet engaged six ‘Silverfish’ Drifter Battleships, including two piloted by Hikanta Tyrannos clones. After entering the Nexus, the fleet exited the wormhole having sustained no losses of ships or lives.

This is the first time that an ARC fleet has sustained no casualties since we first started to attack the Drifters in their Hives. Furthermore, this is not a fluke of luck, but as the deliberate result of ARC’s evolving doctrine and tactical approach to combating the Drifters. The current doctrine, known as Heavy Weasels, continues ARC’s tradition of keeping a low barrier of entry for pilots wishing to come on open operations, both on skill points and initial investment in ships.

In the Heavy Wesel doctrine, a fleet of Caracals and Scythes support a core of of Basilisks flown by ARC veterans; the rest of the fleet positions are open to all pilots, including first time Hive Op pilots. Within the next few days, ARC Coordination will release fittings for a Moa and a Belicose to ARC pilots who are not able to fly the Caracal.

Due to the local space conditions caused by the Conflux pulsar, the Conflux Hive represents the most dangerous Hive for the Heavy Weasel doctrine. Given the successful battlefield performance of the Heavy Weasel doctrine in Conflux, we expect that it should perform to standard--meaning no losses--in all other Drifter Hives.

We honor and remember the sacrifice of all the men and women who died to get us to this point.

Alizabeth, ARC Fleet Commander

This thread is open for questions.

I say this is cause for celebration. Bring out the sausages and beer for zero casualties!

How did you guys manage to avoid getting doomsdayed anyway?

Tombstones in local chat have become tombstones for the Tyrannos family instead of our own.

While pacifistic notions are all well and good, at this point it's fair to say few feel any such obligation toward the Tyrannos, who have not so much as issued demands, and who have visited fire and death on the Empire, and anyone who ventures near abandoned Jove structures even in sovereign space.




The doomsday fires. We just happen to ensure it misses. Our current understanding is that it tracks comparably or slightly worse than a Drifter's regular armament. The question was how we'd ensure a fleet can withstand regular weapons fire so that we could control the flow of the engagement, especially in a worst-case scenario with multiple (three or more) Drifters on field.

Oh, well, I think we're past the 'pushing back into the holes' thing. I mean, we're in their holes. Pushing.

At the moment there is an ARC COORD 'Eyes Only" document detailing the Heavy Weasel Doctrine. I will see what I can do to get a redacted and declassified version out to the public sometime in the next few weeks.

Well done Evocatus! The Society is pleased to continue to participate in and to support the ARC Drifter Operations.

It took a lot of hard work and thought by a lot of people to get to this point. It is good to reduce the risk to our crews and to finally be able to take the fight, effectively, to the Drifters.

Congratulations, Ali. You're doing great work. If you need any material assistance or find yourself short-staffed, let me know, I can see if RepSwarm can lend a hand.

This is a great success. Happy to see us reach this point.

I may well take you up on that.



And I'll pass that right along to Atrum!