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Waverly's naval base had a temporary population of about 30,000 naval personnel. Due to its location and lack of uncontrolled fuel sources (and the fact it was the only naval installation in the subsector), it was used as a major military storage area, and several dozen ships awaiting repair or in ordinary were normally to be found orbiting the 5th planet, Joyce under the guard of three Cirrus class armoured defence stations. The base itself was defended by over two dozen Asgard, Valkyre and Fenris class TL14 SDBs (400tn).
Whilst the A class ports at Pekhurra and Tavara were considered too vulnerable to Solomani advances and strikes across the border, Waverly was considered safe, as it was shielded by the Bellin Cluster of worlds. Also the lack of gas giants, asteroid belts or even on-world oceans meant that the only fuel supplies available were at the starport and naval base. Any attacking force would have to bring fuel to jump back out again with it.
However in 1121, the first signs of trouble appeared at Waverly Naval Base, a new hard-line MOJ commander was assigned, supported by a Battalion of MOJ troops, to root out solsec infiltrators and defeatists. Within two weeks, MOJ forces had placed the Base Commander under house arrest for defeatism and having a "really bad attitude". Commander Stravinski had made the mistake of making accurate reports to an increasing Lucanised military chain of command, with its MOJ political officers. After another week MOJ Colonel Kryl Achort had enough "evidence" to conduct his show trial of Commander Stravinski.
The base's marine security regiment was confined to barracks under MOJ guard, the base executive officer and the senior naval commander were dragooned onto the court-martial board along with Colonel Achort and two "impartial" MOJ officers. The captains of every large starship were order to attend the trial and the entire crews of all imperial vessels were ordered to watch the proceedings that were transmitted live.
The naval forces in system at the time consisted of the 121st Assault Ron, the 93rd Light Cruiser Squadron, the 43rd and 9754th Armoured cruiser squadrons (using the outdated TL12 Gryphon armoured cruisers), the 4351st and 4352nd Destroyer squadrons, and the colonial 1st Freyan Long Range Strike squadron. Under MOJ orders these ships were ordered to assemble in orbit over Waverly in review formation.
The only vessels exempted from this order were a handful of escorts assigned to picket duty (mostly 400tn displacement vessels, too small to warrant MOJ notice). Three Cirrus class stations orbiting the old ship storage areas around Joyce, and a group of 4 Ilyvir class light troopships conducting exercises on Joyce were also exempt.
The Solomani strike force "Lightening" based around 2 Motmos class light battleships, a Scharnhorst class heavy cruiser squadron, and a Patriot class light cruiser squadron, plus escorts could not believe their luck when they jumped in only 100 diameters out from Waverly's sun. Using the sensor time lag, the Solomani were on top of the handful of picket vessels before they knew what was happening. They tried to stop the Solomani thrust but were completely outclassed. Urgent warnings from the picket ships were ignored by the MOJ manned communications facilities that were busy broadcasting the show trial.
In a display of valour, in accordance with the highest traditions of Imperial service, the escorts tried to stop the Solomani invaders. The light escorts, patrol cruisers and even armed small craft closed with the enemy and were swept aside. The close escort Impala rammed the Scharnhorst class heavy cruiser Hipper with great loss of life.
However, the Solomani came on and launched a devastating first salvo against the orbiting ships and the base itself. The main base, the MOJ, the marines and the captains of every major vessel were killed in a barrage of nuclear missiles, and meson gun bursts. The orbiting ships faired little better, with power plants powered down to minimum levels, with sensors and defences unmanned, and crew clustered in common rooms etc. they could not deflect or respond to the initial barrage. Several ships even suffered direct impacts from nuclear tipped missiles, and became fireballs.
Arrayed in review formation, half crippled, and with power, defences and crews only just coming on line, the battle was predictably short and one-sided. The battle would have been even shorter had it not been for the actions of the 1st Freyan Long Range Strike Squadron. Whilst the squadron's commander had been on the base, he had a very competent first officer, and they had come up with a plan. Fearing MOJ purges after the trial, they had substituted volunteers in place of the captains that the MOJ had demanded attend the trial. The MOJ had looked down on the colonials and did not even know who the captains were or what they looked like. The Freyan ships had been more battle ready, with power plants warm, weapons and passive sensors manned. The Freyans put up a valiant defence, but their high jump strike vessels were not designed to toe-to-toe slugging matches especially with Solomani battleships and heavy cruisers.
Predictably the Freyans were over-come, but not before heavily damaging several Solomani vessels. So impressed were the Solomani with the actions of the Freyans, and the picket force, that they conducted extensive search and rescue operations on these vessels, and any rescued crew were treated as guests and released via small craft into the Hewlett system when the Solomani withdrew.
After less than a day, the Solomani held the field and withdrew from the system (to waiting tanker support lurking in deep space and hence back via Hewlett's outer gas giant and into the Saagii system).
Back in the Waverly system, the ranking officer Lt. Commander Briame, captain of the Cirrus guard stations around Joyce mobilised the stations ships boats, the nine Asgard and Fenris SDBs and the four Ilyvir light troopships to survey the scene and rescue any survivors. The base as a series of craters, and densiometer scans revealed none of the base's underground chambers still intact. The civilian starport had also been destroyed, and no communications had been received from them. Lt. Commander's Briame's ships rescued those they could from the orbiting wrecks and brought them back to the Cirrus stations for medical treatment.
There the remaining imperial forces decided to abandon the Waverly system. The remaining jump capable vessels in-system (primary picket vessels and the Ilyvir troopships were stripped of non-essential equipment, loaded with modular quarters, emergency low berths and the fuel reserves of the Cirrus stations, the SDBs, and the small craft (the main fuel depot on Waverly had been destroyed). And the remaining 1254 imperial personnel left the system.
Four days later, the starport personnel managed to dig themselves out of their emergency bunker to find themselves alone and stranded in a system with no fuel sources and no jump capable vessels. No Imperial relief came.
Over the following years, a handful of free traders visited, and managed to salvage a few parts from the wrecks that had not yet crashed. The population of Waverly conducted a low lottery and attempted to buy passage off world for the lucky lottery winners. People who attempted to cheat or stowaway was thrown into Waverly's toxic atmosphere. This grim approach won the respect of the few passing traders who attempted to lift as many people off as they could. By 1130, over 250 souls had been rescued.
For seventy years Waverly has not been visited by a starship.
Salvage consists of three Cirrus Class Guard stations (TL14, 2.5ktns, heavily armoured, screened and armed), 6 ships boats, 6 Asgard SDBs (TL14, 400tns, M-6, heavily armed and armoured), 3 Fenris SDBs (TL14, M3, heavily armed and armoured with a 50tn laser bay), plus 16 imperial marine APCs dumped from the troopships.
Unknown to all but the highest naval circles, there are additional naval assets in the Waverly System. At cardinal points around the system, in the Oort cloud are 4 more Cirrus stations, each with 2 Asgard and 1 Valkyrie (as Fenris but laser bay replaced with small spinal N-PAW or meson gun) SDBs. These stations are located next to large comets / ice asteroids. They are manned with Imperial era crews in low berths. Lt Commander Briame did not know about them. Also scattered around the Oort cloud are a dozen small metallic asteroids. These have been hollowed out and used to store equipment to support imperial commandos in efforts to retake the system (Naval High Command considered this system to have sufficient strategic value).
The cache was slightly different than normal, as it in included direct usable technology as well as databases and prototypes. This technology was primary concerned with life-support and would allow the natives to maintain their sealed domes even if their TL dropped as low as 4. It also included a 1 Ktn TL9 streamlined vessel loaded with emergency low berths to allow an evacuation of the native population if the collapse was too much to survive.
Loss of radio traffic or loss of power at the port was supposed to trigger locator beacons that would alter the locals to the presence of the cache. If they could respond to a series of tests and questions that showed an appreciation of both technology and imperial culture, a number of remote operated grav vehicles would have left the cache, to return with the natives and allow them access.
Unfortunately the storm of radiation and seismic events accompanying the destruction of the base (all those nukes and meson gun bursts) disabled the cache's sensors and corrupted its control systems and it never noticed the destruction of Waverly. The cache has remained undisturbed ever since.