Earlier today the DDS and ABBO fleets met in battle near to Solaris and the result was a great victory for the DDS! It was the biggest battle the DDS fleet has ever been involved in (though a greater number of DDS ships have been in a single battle before). The ABBOs had a 10:1 advantage however the DDS negated that with superior technology and innovative tactics.
As the two fleets lined up against each other everything seemed like it would be a standard space battle. The DDS deployed a classic overbalanced line with a stronger right flank. However before the battle began 4 Missileers decloaked in between the two fleets and then proceeded to launch a broadside of TPMs into the massed ranks of ABBO ships destroying scores of them. The Missileers quickly recloaked and departed except for one ship which suffered a main power failure thought to be due to a Bolitic virus and was destroyed (the DDS will release the names of destroyed ships later).
The battle then began in earnest with a brutal exchange of fire between the 2 fleets and scores of Ferrets harrying the ABBO flanks. The DDS then employed their second tactical surprise. 2 Pulsar cruisers behind the front rank fired 4 MRMs into the ABBO fleet and the large nuclear detonations disrupted the ABBO lines (and destroyed a lot of ships).
The sheer weight of numbers began to tell however especially when the battle began to break up and ABBO destroyers could get in close. Some ABBO ships were used in suicide ramming tactics, a Pulsar and a Panther were both destroyed in this manner. A Terran Sea was also destroyed when it was pounced upon by the ABBO battlecruiser. One tactic the DDS used seemed to have been to keep smaller ABBO warships between themselves and the battlecruiser which meant it could not use it's massive firepower to it's full potential.
The ship losses, damaged ships and reports some ships were running out of TPMs caused the DDS to withdraw back to form a new line however then The Orchid employed her third and final strategy. She employed some ramming tactics of her own. 40 Ferret UCVs, thought to have been fitted with a nuclear warhead, attacked the ABBOs literally head on. 32 ABBO ships were destroyed by ramming tactics. The battlecruiser was also damaged by a ramming attack.
Finally the reserve flotilla led by Von Kane attacked the ABBO's flank. Two Rome corvettes were destroyed in this attack and a Starsystem badly damaged and abandoned (though recovered later) but this was enough to finally disrupt the ABBO fleet. The returning Missileers resumed their bombardment and the ABBOs, having lost some 296 ships (out of 347) withdrew. Von Kane's attack also managed to destroy 6 of the Bolitic ships accompanying the ABBOs.
The ABBO fleet is now returning to it's own space. The battle of Solaris is over and has been costly but the DDS have won. Whether this means the war is over remains to be seen. Reinforcements from Arit, Starbot and the Glowing Light deployment will arrive within the next few days.
