Massacre at Giovanni

"I see 'em Admiral. Scanning and monitoring probes, and they're everywhere in this belt. Several of them are ours, stolen. Those probes can easily pick up I.T. signatures from millions of kilometers away. So, it's safe to say that if there are any ARC ships in this system, they probably know that we're here, and exactly where we are."

- General Green to Admiral Reynolds, shortly after entering the Giovanni System.

Overview
The Massacre at Giovanni (also known officially as the First battle of the Giovanni System), was a relatively short but costly battle fought between the UNMC and the ARC during the latter few months of the Factions War. The battle holds great significance to both sides involved, as it was one of the few times during the war where ARC space forces were able to definitively outmatch and outsmart the UNMC. However, the UNMC credits the battle with allowing them to learn the existence and location of the ARC super-colony Freedom, which was attacked by the UNMC just a month later.

Prelude
A week before the battle took place, UNMC Central Command had managed to identify and confirm a previously unknown ARC system known as Giovanni from the travel logs of several damaged Confederation Navy ships. The location of the system was 170 light years from Sol, deep into enemy territory but regardless the UNMC cleared a mission to investigate and destroy any local ARC forces found. A large task force fleet was formed from the closest available UNMC units that could be deployed, and was made up of both UNNF and UNAC ships, consisting of Battlegroup Luster from the UNNF's 73rd fleet under command of Arch Admiral Reynolds, and Battlegroup Cobra from the UNAC 1st fleet under command of General Green. Green wished not not be paired with Reynolds stating that the Admiral had become an "impulsive, impatient and stubborn glory hound and easily a liability to both the misison and the UNMC", but his concerns were not heeded by command and the ships were gathered at the captured ARC colony Vostol, only 18 light years from Giovanni on April 4th, 2337. After refueling and rearming from UNMC Support ships at the colony, the fleet transitioned into I.T. and headed to the Giovanni System.

The Battle
Arriving on April 8th, the joint UNMC fleet found themselves in the vicinity of a large asteroid belt with its asteroids in unusual close proximity. Further scanning revealed several ARC structures floating along with the asteroids, mostly starship maintenance and refueling depots. Shortly after, the UNMC fleet managed to locate dozens of monitoring probes scattered throughout the belt, which had undoubtedly picked up their signatures. The suspicions were confirmed when just minutes later, a very large ARC fleet of 118 ships transitioned out just a few hundred kilometers away from the UNMC fleet. The fire started almost instantly, with the ARC taking the first shots and managing to score hits on a few UNMC vessels, including the destroyer UNS Herstal, which was struck directly in its reactor and subsequently exploded, damaging 4 other UNMC ships. In retaliation, Admiral Reynolds commanded his ships forward into the ARC lines, while Green took the UNAC fleet and broke into 4 separate groups, surrounding the ARC from multiple directions. 4 ARC Dreadnoughts hindered the effectiveness of the UNMC fleet, as their heavier ships were kept back to avoid the danger. A split-second maneuver by General Green and the UNAC fleet managed to take out 2 of the dreadnoughts as well as a few other ARC vessels, which prompted the UNNF fleet to push forward and unleash a heavy barrage of fire, taking down multiple enemy ships. The entire UNMC fleet then rocketed through the ARC lines on full burn, causing chaos in the ARC fleet and allowing the attackers to pick off ships with close range missile and railgun fire. The UNMC fleet then swung around through a cluster of asteroids, using them as cover for their advance. The ARC fleet moved in to engage, and pulled off a series of complicated but effective maneuvers to position themselves in an optimal firing line against the UNMC. This left their fleet closely bundled and unable to quickly dodge incoming attacks, but allowed them to fire and destroy several UNMC vessels in quick succession. The battle turned into a relative stalemate at that point, with neither side scoring many kills over the next few minutes. Both fleets then disengaged and fell back further into the belt, regrouping and recharging all weapons for a counterattack.

The tide turns
Completely unexpected to the UNMC fleet, a moderate detachment of ARC ships sped into the open and headed for a large nearby cluster of smaller asteroids, seemed to be placed there unnaturally. Reynolds, wishing to "go for the glory" and blinded by revenge on the ARC fleet took his UNNF fleet and pursued the enemy detachment, despite the many pleads and recommendations to not pursue by General Green. While the UNAC fleet continued to suppress the remaining ARC ships, the UNNF fleet hammered the detachment group and took down a good number of ships before they managed to fall back behind the cluster of small asteroids. As the UNNF fleet moved in for the kill with Reynolds' ship UNS Millennium leading the charge, the ARC sprung their trap. The small asteroids had in fact been moved there by the ARC shortly before the invasion, and were lined with stolen UNC WMDs. At least a dozen Megaton Bombs were attached to the asteroids, and went off with a series of brilliant flashes of blue-tinted light, engulfing a majority of the close-by UNNF fleet. When the flashes died down, there was only a fraction of the UNNF ships left, not including the UNS Millennium. With the main fleet decimated, the ARC regrouped and began to move in on the UNAC fleet, which fell back to regroup with the remaining UNNF ships. General Green then took command of all surviving ships per the request of the UNNF remnants.

UNMC retreat
With only 29 of the original fleet left, Green attempted to hold back the advancing ARC ships. The general's tactical brilliance shined when under his command, the remaining UNMC ships were able to avoid most of the enemy fire, and even outpace them and destroy a further 12 ships. Unfortunately, as the integrity and chance of survival for the fleet started to fall, Green was faced with the unfortunate truth that it was unlikely to win the battle at the current point. Just as 20 more ARC ships jumped in and joined the already engaged ARC fleet, Green ordered a full retreat of his forces, and the UNMC jumped into I.T. to head back to Vostol.

Aftermath
The battered UNMC fleet returned to Vostol on April 12th and informed UNMC Command of the battle, giving them a full debrief on the events. Although at first the military tried to keep the loss and almost decimation of the UNMC force a secret, the information was eventually leaked to the public which forced the UNC to formally announce the extent of the battle. The loss of Arch Admiral Reynolds was a deep hit for the UN as despite his unfavorable tendencies, Reynolds was a seasoned veteran and had done much for the safety of the UNC over the years. General green was awarded for his heroics and outstanding battlefield conduct, and made a public speech days after the release of information concerning his regret over the Admiral's actions and the loss of so many on the UNNF and UNAC. The speech was broadcast throughout UNC space for weeks after. The ARC celebrated over their rare space victory, and continued to move forces into the Giovanni System for weeks after the battle, confident that the UNMC would counterattack soon. Unknown to the ARC, information gathered by UN hacking probes during the battle had uncovered several ARC communications referring to a "super-colony" in the system. Following this discovery, UNNF stealth vessels infiltrated the system and for a few weeks continued to monitor and spy until the planet was pinpointed. Further use of deep space probes and stealth ships managed to gather a wealth of information on the ARC activities and communications in the system, revealing their plans for attacking Earth and Olympia with a coordinated fleet of over 500 ships. These crucial discoveries allowed the UNMC to plan and carry out a massive counterattack a month later, leading to the Second Battle of Giovanni and the bloody Battle of Freedom, both of which would effectively put an end to the Factions War.