| “ | Alliance fleet, this is Captain Geary. All units, assume combat formation Alpha. I say again, assume combat formation Alpha. Execute order immediately upon receipt. | ” |
The Battle of Kaliban was an engagment between the Alliance and the Syndicate Worlds at Kaliban. It proved to be the first major victory won during the journey back to Alliance space.
Still pursued by the Syndic advance force that had chased them through Corvus, Geary decided to fight at Kaliban. The decision to fight was the right one, because Geary defeated the enemy with relative ease and few casualties.
The destruction of the Syndic advance force was vital for Geary, who was able to continue through Syndicate space under the radar.
Despite the decisive victory, Geary did not consider Kaliban to be that great a battle, believing that he only won because he outnumbered the Syndics and the Syndic commander was incompetent. It also sought to create new divisions in the Alliance fleet, with some people annoyed that Geary had restructured their battle tactics.
However, the battle also showed that Geary's commanding officers were willing to follow his orders, depsite dissent within the fleet.
Background[]
Alliance[]
Following their terrible defeat at Prime, the Alliance had fled to Corvus, where a Syndic advance force was sent to herd them to Yuon, where Geary was sure a large Syndic fleet would be positioned. Instead, Geary headed to Kaliban, an abandoned system.
Geary and his crew began looting the system and the abandoned facilities left for supplies for the long journey home. During this time, a marine first brought it to Geary's attention that the Sydnics could have knowledge of a "third party" that would use the facilities. This was the first that Geary heard about the Enigma Race.
Geary spent nearly a week at Kaliban, looting items and repairing his ships. During that time, a marine shuttle broke down, leaving 31 marines trapped on Kaliban. During this time, the Syndics arrived.
Though Geary knew that he could probably pull the marines out and escape, he also knew that the fleet would probably mutiny if he ordered them to "run" again. With this in mind, he ordered his fleet into combat formation and began the charge against the enemy.
Geary arranged his forces into the Alpha formation, a generalistic, simple formation. Geary planned on reorganising his formation once they were close enough to the enemy army to begin the fight. Geary then ordered the fleet to get rest and food, because the battle would not begin for an entire day. Eventually, Geary gave the order to reform into Formation Fox Five.
This formation had a main body offering itself as a target to the Syndics. As well as the main body, there were four disc formations (commanded by Captain Duellos, Captain Numos, Commander Cresida and Captain Landis respectively), that were positioned above, below, and to the left and right of the main body. Each of the discs were in front of the main body as well.
A fifth formation, commanded by Captain Tulev, protected the auxiliaries.
Syndic[]
The Syndic advance force was probably sent to Corvus with orders to chase Geary to Yuon, into a trap. Geary chose not to attack the advance force because he believed that a follow-up force would soon arrive at Corvus as well, and Geary would be forced to fight a bigger, more powerful enemy.
Geary, however, fell for neither trap and instead went to Kaliban. The advance force and the follow-up force then joined together into a new advance force, and continued on to Kaliban, where Geary was waiting.
The Syndic commander arranged his fleet in a hammerhead formation, with a strong "head" that was meant to concentrate his forces on one area, allowing his ships to break though and batter the Alliance ships relentlessly.
Battle[]
Opening Attack[]
With an hour left to go, Geary re-organised his fleet into Formation Fox Five, and prepared his ships for battle. The Syndics continued to chrge straiight for the main body of the Alliance fleet, probably hoping to destroy Geary's flagship and break the morale of his sailors. As the Syndic body grew closer, Geary ordered the four disc formations to attack the Syndic force, whilst the main body to brake.
The four disc formations now hit the Syndics on both flanks, and from above and below. The main body was also protected as they braked, making sure that they did not come into contact with the Syndic force. The Syndics sped up, hoping to avoid the disc formations and break through the Alliance's main body, allowing them to escape from the battle. However, Duellos and Numos changed the angle of their intecept, catching the Syndic fleet before they could reach the main body.
It was at this point that Numos tried to hit the rear of the Syndic ships by turning tightly and pursuing them from behind. This kept many heavy cruisers and battleships out of the battle as they tried to chase the faster Syndic fleet. This angered Geary, who refused to give Numos another formation to command ever again.
Follow up attack[]
The Syndics tried to attack the auxiliaries and thier escorts now. Geary ordered the main body to pursue the Syndics. The main body and Numos' formation now pursued the enemy force, cutting off their retreat. Tulev moved his heavy escort troops out from the auxiliaries, to engage the Syndics before they could endanger the vital support craft.
Tulev's escorts met up with Duellos formation and they hit the Syndics hard together, just as the main body swept in. The Syndics, now broken, fled. Some were caught by Numos' formation.
Pursuing the Syndic force[]
Geary ordered a general pursuit, and watched as his formations disappeared within seconds. Geary observed the crew of Dauntless racing Fearless to catch a Syndic D-Class cruiser. Fearless reached the cruiser before Dauntless could, annoying Desjani. Desjani decided that, because some computer systems were still active on the cruiser, Dauntless should have to attack him.
Geary also had to deal with Captain Numos, whose incompetence had cost him a chance to attack the Syndic warships. Towards the end of the battle, Geary also spent some time explaining to Rione why complex tactics were not in use after 100 years of war.
Aftermath[]
Several hundred Syndics died during the course of the battle. During the melee that followed Geary ordering a general pursuit, many Syndics abandoned their ships. The cost of the battle was high for the Syndics, who had been beaten with relative ease by Geary.
However, this battle also cost Geary. Apart from the death of Commander Hatherian, who went down with his ship Arrogant, Geary also had to deal with the anger of Captain Numos, who believed he had been deliberately left out of the battle.
Further problems occured when Geary realised that the fleet were unhappy about the way they had fought, even though they had won. Duellos put this down to not wanting to fight in a new way. This issues issues were later used by Numos, Captain Faresa and Captain Kerestes when they mutinied at Strabo.
Geary, after winning at Kaliban, would be able to continue his journey in relative secrecy for a while. The Syndics lost them after they went to Sutrah. Eventually, the Syndics would find the Alliance fleet when they attacked Sancere.
Alongside the Arrogant, heavy cruiser Invidious, light cruiser Swift, and destroyers Dagger and Venom were also lost in the battle.