First Battle of Kadesh

Prelude
In 2304 Q1 M1, the Romulan Quarantine Fleet made First Contact with the Kadeshi over their colony world of Galaar III, the same species found at Birkaad III. Upon learning that contact had been lost for over a month with their homeworld, with only a warning sent out about an invading bio-mechanical ship, the decision was made to head immediately for the Kadesh system.

Setting the staging point in the Galaar system, the Romulan Quarantine Fleet linked up with the Romulan Border Zone Fleet, joined by the CAS Riala from the Confederacy of Amarki and the Shakalash from the Andorian Guard. Under command of Commodore T'Faer, the combined fleet then set for the fourth world of the Kadesh system, where according to the Kadeshi colonists, there was an important defense base whose sensors could intercept any attempts to use cloaking devices in-system.

The Battle
Upon arrival, the fleet successfully destroyed the base without issue. In response, the Biophage amassed a horde of 500 suicide shuttlecraft of every size and sent them in waves as the fleet took up defensive positions.

Things turned almost immediately against the combined fleet. The first wave hit a gap between the Riala’s task force and that of the IRW Saharhae’s task force, where their fire zones were not properly overlapping. Of the one hundred shuttles in the first wave, eleven survived to hit both task forces, destroying the USS Faithful and disabling the USS Svai and IRW Rilairhan.

The second wave of shuttles took further advantage of the weakness, with another seven shuttles slipping by to destroy a D7 Cruiser and savage the Saharhae. Worst of all was the USS Kumari, who had lost its shields by this point and took another two heavy blows. Only 100 out of the 750 crew are left fit for duty in the aftermath of the hits, with Commodore T'Faer badly wounded and removed from the chain of command at this point.

Captain Nash ka’Sharren took command of the fleet in response, though the Biophage shuttles continued their overwhelming push through the fleet's defenses, disabling the Saharhae and destroying the last D7 Cruiser with another nine shuttles.

In a stunning display of shooting however, the USS Enterprise cuts through most of the next wave single handily to protect the Riala’s badly damaged task force, with only a single shuttle surviving to ram the USS Courageous to little effect.

The fifth and final wave unfortunately, targeted the gaping hole in the fleet's defense, left by the destruction of one of the Romulan task forces. The eleven surviving shuttles disable the Shakalash, the Riala, killing Admiral Aelin aboard the latter, and leave a Bird-of-Prey hanging on by its fingertips before the battle finally ends.

Aftermath
In face of the causalities taken in the battle, Starfleet Command debated how to proceed. Before further orders could be given however, a small fleet of unknown vessels made their appearance. Sensors indicate they are crewed by Kadeshi, before Rachel Sarjan makes contact with the combined fleet.

In the ensuing conversation, the Kadeshi fleet offers their aid to fight the Biophage, informing the joint fleet of a Biophage shipyard complex at the Koba gas giant. With Kadeshi ships remaining to protect the disabled Federation and Romulan vessels, the combined fleet sets off towards what would later be called the Battle of Koba.