Battle of Varandal was a military engagement fought by the Alliance Fleet and vessels of the Syndicate Worlds Mobile Defense Force in Varandal Star System.
Prelude[]
After being defeated in a battle in Atalia Star System that the Alliance Fleet under Captain Geary witnessed when they arrived, the remnants of the Alliance fleet that had stayed behind when Admiral Bloch launched his ill-fated attack on the Syndic home system retreated back to Varandal, pursued by the majority of the Syndicate Worlds Mobile Defence Force. The remnants only consisted of 4 battleships and 2 battlecruisers, as well as their surviving escorts, while the Syndics had 16 battleships, 14 battlecruisers, 20 heavy cruisers, 45 light cruisers, and 110 Hunter-Killers. Captain Geary quickly moved through Atalia Star System, leaving behind Task Force Illustrious, consisting of 2 damaged battleships and 2 damaged battlecruisers, as well as some damaged escorts, under the command of Captain Badaya to pick up Alliance escape pods containing survivors.
Battle[]
The Alliance Fleet commanded by Captain Geary arrived in Varandal Star System to find a weak Alliance flotilla consisting of 2 battleships, 1 battlecruiser, and their surviving escorts trying to hold off a vastly superior Syndic force. The Alliance destroyer Howitzer had stayed by the jump point to Atalia, and became the first to encounter the Alliance Fleet. From Howitzer came the information that the Alliance flotilla had attempted to hold the Syndics at a location 30 light minutes from the jump point, at which they lost 2 capital ships, and at another location over 2 light hours from the jump point, where the Alliance lost another capital ship, leaving only 2 battleships, Dependable and Dreadnought (which was under the command of Captain Jane Geary, Captain John Geary's grandniece), and a battlecruiser, the Intemperate.
Aftermath[]
By the time the battle ended, many Alliance ships had already run out of fuel. The Alliance Fleet under the command of Captain Geary lost 1 battlecruiser, 2 heavy cruisers, 3 light cruisers, and 5 destroyers, making a total of 7 battleships, 10 battlecruisers, 3 scout battleships, 21 heavy cruisers, 25 light cruisers, 54 destroyers, and 1 auxilary lost since Captain Geary took command during the First Battle of Prime, leaving 20 battleships, 13 battlecruisers, 16 heavy cruisers, 37 light cruisers, 129 destroyers, and 3 auxilaries still remaining in the Alliance Fleet under Captain Geary's command.