The first battle of AP-5

The first battle of AP-5 was a very important battle of ISW-4. As Survey Flotilla 62 commenced the Surveying of the Prescott Chain they were detected in the AP-5 system by the Arachnids cloaked pickets. They did not know they had been detected and the flotilla continued the survey for another four systems until they found the El Dorado system. They then turned back and went back the way they came. Unfortuanately, the bug pickets had called forth reinforcements and they Arachnids had the flotilla pinned between two forces. The one in between the flotilla and their escape had mostly military drives while the other one was behind them and had mostly commercial drive ships meant to carry Gunboats. The humans had to destroy all of the military drive ships and escape. The only way they could do that was with a massed fighter strike Unforuanately, the Bugs had a new trick up their sleeve. As the main strike went in, a group of warships appeared in between the main strike and the main enemy force. The fighters attcked as they normally did and closed to point blank range but when they were at their closest, the detonated their own ships which were actually fighter trap Suicide-Riders. With his fighter strength decisively blunted, the commander of SF 62, Andrew Prescott, had the flotillas remaining fighting ships and gunboats charge in on a suicide run to by time for the survey ships to escape into cloak. The plan worked but loses included over 90 fighters, 9 Battlecruisers, one Fleet Carrier and 20 gunboats.