…What makes the Conjunction such a difficult enemy to combat is their commitment to operational security and the tactics they’ve adopted that reflect that commitment. It would not be unfounded to say The Conjunction has created the spacefront equivalent of guerilla warfare. Upon being surprised their starships frequently fight only long enough to calculate an escape jump, though this isn’t a very common occurrence. Conjunction attack groups usually contain anywhere between 3 and 8 ships and are almost always the aggressors. They inflict their damage primarily in their opening volley of fire while Alliance ships are still manning action stations.
No matter the outcome of a skirmish, Conjunction forces are known to never take prisoners nor permit themselves to be captured. After the second instance of a disabled Conjunction warship intentionally sabotaging their own gravity drive in 2856, the GLA starforce made keeping out of range of disabled ships and destroying them with more controlled bombing runs standard procedure. The Conjunction adopted similar tactics with regards to civilian colonies and space stations under their control. Any and all evidence of life is eradicated from a colony via the detonation of a thermonuclear warhead close to the population center once they are certain that it is going to fall under Alliance control. Whether or not the population of said colonies evacuate beforehand or die along with them to this day remains unknown.
The methods by which the Conjunction carries out its long and short range communications remain just as much of a mystery. Any and all attempts to parley or otherwise exchange words with their ships by Alliance vessels have provoked no response. The end result is that the Alliance has had to form their entire combat doctrine based around educated guesswork. Specifics remain, of course classified, but generally speaking the most successful equipment has been that made highly adaptable. The All Combat Purposes breed of mainline warships has seen such success due to their ability to respond in some manor to any situation they encounter.
One thing that has been reasonably concluded is that the Conjunction emphasize power in numbers over individual skills with regards to dogfighting. The small size and maneuverability of Conjunction fighters were a considerable surprise to Alliance soldiers at the beginning of the war, but have since been outengineered and conquered by the Falcon series. Rather than respond in kind, the Conjunction has since compensated by fielding larger and larger numbers of their fighters with minor if any changes to their design. It has been theorized that some of these fighters may be automated or remotely operated, but from what remains after battles it is certain that at least some of them are still controlled by their pilots from within.
The blatant disregard for life these tactics imply has baffled Alliance analysts and historians, this author included when considering the origins of the movement. For more on the Conjunction and their beginnings see our follow-up article…
The Wings of Atlantis 