Post by EmperorMyric on Jun 1, 2021 14:12:34 GMT
Imperial Dispatch Report - Galactic Core Operations
AME060/10/23 (SEALED RECORD, PRAETORIAN-CLEARANCE. NOTE FOLLOWS) By vote of the Interior Council, you are hereby ordered to develop plans for an extended campaign against the Unaligned powers of the core systems. Thereafter, you are to muster forces of an appropriate size to such a campaign and proceed forthwith to prosecution, and to bring fire and sword to any resistance.
--------------
Alhergus snarled and made the message vanish with a flick of his hand, slouching back against the command seat on the bridge. Even after almost three months of preparation, it still galled him to read it and be reminded of the temerity of these damn dreftallech. But he was bound, and there wasn't any chance of that changing soon....
Another gesture brought up an angled display of the Boras system, as seen from above the ecliptic. It was speckled with green dots throughout, and a ring of darker emerald held position at the heart of the system around the storage facilities. Made sense, as mining operations like these were constantly plagued by pirates, but that didn't make it any easier to combat... He looked at it for several seconds, before tilting his head and marking the display, indicating a dispersal pattern for the fleet that would drive the miners behind the ring and keep them there. Then he opened a fleet-wide broadcast.
"Clear the way."
-------------------------
Several hours later, his tactical officer pinged him and connected to the main bridge screens. "We have a runner sir. Large class cargo hauler, scans indicate several thousand life-signs. Wolf pack Alpha's asking for orders."
He snorted and enhanced the image. "Orders didn't suddenly change. Run them down."
The officer hesitated slightly. "Sir? There are innocents aboard. We-"
"We have a command from the Senate. A command that we will be fulfilling. Now tell Alpha to run them down."
"Sir, I cannot give the order to fire on -" This prompted a rolling chuckle before the patriarch leaned forward and opened his own channel.
"Objection noted. They'll be brought in and processed instead. I understand we brought several Breeding Masters, yes?" The officer turned slightly green, but relayed the orders. Then again, Alhergus reflected, the heat haze forming around his hand probably hadn't hurt much either...
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Setting up a system-wide siege wasn't very conducive to sleep, but he was managing, albeit with the help of some very nice booze, and an even better bedmate. He'd just started to drift off when the ding of his comm dragged him out bed as he fumbled at the device. "What is it?"
On further thought, the gravel-laced voice of a Legion centurion wasn't the best thing to wake up to. "We intercepted a runner, sir."
"Nngh. But?"
"They got a message out. We tried, but it was on a timer and we couldn't override the ship in time."
"Good work, soldier. Now fuck off." He rolled over and laughed to himself. Well, at least that was going to plan if nothing else was...
Union of Democratic States Southern Fleet Anchorage 'Fort Denison', Old Auraxii Space, AME 60/10/23
It was four in the morning local time and Admiral Corban Rena was sound asleep in his private quarters aboard the station, reveille was in a few hours and the day was going to begin. Today was a bust schedule with a conjoined show of force via military exercises to show the Varren rebels that they were still being watched. Invited to join the Pordish Navy, this was a decision by HICOM to encourage better cooperation and coordination between the two militaries. The Military exercises were going to be a planetary invasion attempt by the attack Union forces while the Pords held the line and tried to stop them at any cost, it was given a schedule of three months for all Union objective to be completed or for their forces to be depleted to the point that the assault was no longer viable. But this exercise was not meant to be as Admiral Rena was about to become aware of as his emergency line began going off.
"This had better be good." Rena said groggily
"Sir orders from HICOM, transmitting a data packet to you now." The operator responded before hanging up.
-
The packet arrived at the Admirals computer with a boisterous ping as he stumbled over and began reading. It was a high priority order package with the intent to mobilise immediately, a mining station had come under siege and was requesting back close to the Unions sphere of influence. An unencountered nation known simply as the High Imperium was spearheading the assault but had become bogged down in a siege of the system. HICOM had determined that such an ambitious and bold attack on a neutral target by a foreign power in the Unions sphere of influence should be dealt with swiftly and without incident. When he came to the operations stage of the packet under deployed forces was the word pending next to the Pordish fleet that had come down to participate in the exercises. With Union Assets tied down in peacekeeping and rebuilding after the battle and Zaingraf they were more reliant on outside help than ever before. Once he completed reading the details of the operation he signed heavily.
"Well there goes an easy three months." he said to himself melodramatically before he picked up the phone to the duty officer.
"Admiral! what can i do for you sir." The officer responded in a surprised tone.
"Yeah, Jack put the cards away and sounded the alert we're mobilising in three hours. I want full combat readiness in two." Rena said smugly, the officer confirmed and hung up and almost immediately the alarms and claxons began blaring throughout the station.
"ACTION STATIONS, ALL HANDS RETURN TO YOUR SHIPS AND PREPARE FOR MOBILISATION. CAPTAINS REPORT TO THE BRIEFING ROOM. I SAY AGAIN ACTION STATIONS, ACTIONS STATIONS" Came from the station PA system for the next forty minutes.
-
In the briefing room assembled the captains of Rena's fleet, it was a small force consisting of only thirty seven vessels down from fifty, thanks to reassignments to the other fleets to maintain unit cohesion. These thirty seven captains were going to be the liberating force for the siege defenders and so they needed to be brought up to speed on the situation. In the room they stood around a large console which had a holographic display of the target system.
"Ladies and Gentlemen firstly thank you for getting here in fine order, secondly the exercises are cancelled due to a new threat that HICOM has decided we need to go and flush out. currently we have minimal data from the distress call and long range scan which shows a large number of blobs..." He said looking at the display
"Honestly why do they even bother with those." He joked with his subordinates
"Back to the matter at hand once we have achieved mobilisation status we'll be sending recon probes to conduct accurate scans of the system so we can identify a safe jump point for our fleet and hopefully the Pordish Fleet if they answer the call. Once we have more accurate data we'll begin planning initial offensive operations against the target. Time is of the essence so we need to move quickly, keep everyone on their toes and swap out crew who need a break, have them going at minimum twelve hours, though so we can cut down on hand overs." Rena said casually
"If there's no questions, you're dismissed to oversee your ships until I call you again." He ordered, he was met with a salute and the officers strode away back to their ships.
For now it was the waiting game for recon to be conducted and to see if the Pords would accept the call to arms.
Chor Valyn sits quietly in the officer's lounge of his flagship. Fried walrus is good, and the other Pords stationed on his boat know not to come between him and his meal. Steam climbs towards the ceiling and poofs against the bulkhead as he shovels a large helping into his mouth. The deep auburn hues of the portion, perfectly variegated with creamy-white marbling, only complement the sharp aroma of the dish. Tasi, he admits to himself, this is good. The heat yields to a panoply of flavours and he nods satisfactorily with each bite.
…And to his left a tall tumbler of frothy drink waits in anticipation. With an outstretched hand he reaches for it, then…
There is a knocking on the door.
Come in, he bellows through the wooden finish of the bulkhead.
The door opens and a Pord - a naval intelligence officer judging by the white trim of his garb - steps through into the lounge. He salutes with a single crisp movement: nam-Valyn DritteJloknam.
Valyn nods and motions for the Pord to come forward. He chews slowly and scratches his chin through the forest growing beneath his lip. What do you have for me?
The intelligence officer nods and places a small holo-projector onto the table. Audio begins to play from it and details some sort of assault. Valyn continues to chew with an unimpressed scowl plastered about his jowls. After a moment or two the intelligence officer chimes in again: This isn't all, nam-DritteJloknam.
Valyn nods again and waves over the holo-projector. The audio feed skips past the remaining details of the assault and starts back up with a communique from the Union of Democratic States.
The UDS are mobilizing to assist, nam-Valyn. They have called off our exercises.
I should have known some shit like this was going to happen, Valyn grumbles, this type of shit always happens. He stands up and brushes off the few specks of food that found their way onto his
trousers and cues his communicator. The tiny visage of his adjutant flickers to life upon it, and he then says to him: get my coat ready.
The tiny visage salutes and the communications line is cut.
He turns back to the intelligence officer. Is that everything?
The officer nods and takes the hint. He salutes and disappears back through the door nearly as swiftly as he came.
Valyn takes a moment to finish the remaining portions of his walrus. There are two large sections left and a generous serving of steamed weed roots. He polishes off both of these, defeats the large jug of drink that now sits empty next to the plate, and then heads for the door himself. As he reaches it he is met by his adjutant.
Here is your coat, Malach says, I heard the news about the attack.
UDS are planning on assisting, Valyn elaborates, we'd benefit from working alongside them there now that our exercises have been shelved.
Shall I summon the wing commanders?
No, let them rest for a few more hours. In the meantime, send a communique back to Admiral Rena. Tell him that we will assist their efforts in this system, and that my scouting elements will be ready to sail in rapid order.
Malach makes a mental note of the request. I'll see to it, nam-DritteJloknam. Are you done with breakfast? He points to the empty plate and the equally barren jug towering over it.
Of course, but not before news of this silliness arrived.
The adjutant chuckles quietly. Very well, he salutes and shuffles out of the chamber followed - a moment or two later - by Valyn.
Alhergus slouched further into the chair as the man in front of him kept ranting. Honestly, bureaucracy was one thing, but this was still his operation. He should probably cut the moron off right about...now. A kinetic pulse knocked the ingrate ass over teakettle as the ancient lord rose to his feet and stormed forward.
While the emissary from the Senate was still spluttering, Alhergus grabbed him by the collar and hefted, snarling. "You could keep rambling, or you could go back to the Senate and tell them this: I was told to bring fire and sword to these stars. And that is exactly what I am going to do. I will bring horror and wrath, and I will remind those inbred, costumed shits exactly why they never should've woken me."
He had to give the man credit. Despite choking and gasping for air, he still managed to respond with the arrogance that infuriated him so much when it came to the dreft. "You still answer to the Senate, and you have not been given leave for a campaign against the ringworld structure."
This prompted a roar and vigorous shaking. "Leave be damned! By the time I'm done, I'll have left a trail of death and ruin a hundred systems across. Now get out!" He flung the idiot headlong from the audience room and sealed the door. He glared at the bulkhead for several moments before storming back towards his strategy room.
As he entered the room, the woman on the other side of the hololith clapped her hands. "Well, that was suitably dramatic. Care to tell me now what we're really doing here? No way in hell you brought half your fleet to lay siege to a backwater mining station. There's more to this."
He laughed, crossing to a table and pouring a drink. "Sharp as ever, you crusty old bitch. Should've known, really. But honestly, this whole mess is mostly a smokescreen, while I set things up elsewhere."
"Mostly?"
"Well, at the very least, we'll get to see who's going to fight us, and analyze them properly. Maybe even salvage a ship or two if we're lucky. And then there's the matter of capturing some slaves for the Engine."
She arched an eyebrow in surprise. "I thought you learned your lesson with those nightmares after your cage-match with the Enemy. Besides, last I heard, it wasn't working right."
He winced. "You sound entirely too smug about that. However, not working right doesn't mean not working at all. Apparently some of the lower-grade quantum manipulations are still running. If we can build another one under controlled conditions, we could properly harness some of those for broader use. It'd be a massive advance in tech and give us a fighting chance if things go sideways."
"What is all of this leading to? What are you after, Alhergus?"
He slammed the glass down and whirled around, eyes blazing. "What am I after? I'm after the same thing we've been working towards ever since they woke us from death. I want to see the crystal spires of Taros again and walk her streets as a citizen of the most powerful and dreaded polity in this Spiral. I want to burn every last filthy xenos to ash, and erase them from existence. I want to see the Star venerated and worshiped as it was in days of old, the only true god. I want our descendants to remember that we used to rule with an iron fist drenched in the blood of the alien and the heretic. I want to see the Imperium of yore, the empire we built together, rise again in fury and rage. That is what I am after."
He downed the rest of the glass and strode out of the room, the lights automatically turning off without any occupants.
----------------------------
It had been almost a week since the initial assault, and the miners had been forced behind their lines. But while they could not leave, the defenses were too strong for the attacking fleet to break without excessive losses. So Alhergus had fallen back on the age-old strategy of besieging commanders everywhere: siege engines. Ten colossal asteroids of at least 50 km each were slowly being converted into warships, with engines grafted on and rock reprocessed into armor. Now it would be a race against time and any reinforcements....
The Probes had done their job as expendable en masse reconnaissance, it took a few days to get the whole picture of the system and the operation that the enemy had going on for them. Now it was time for the Union to make its move alongside its Pordish Allies. Admiral Rena had summoned his captains back into the meeting room and invited the Pords to join this time. With the new data they could formulate a plan of attack to assist the besieged miners.
"I know it's been a boring couple of days with the hurry up and wait but as we know these things take time. Reinforcements aren't coming as the rumours would have spread around already, after the Dectrose invasion and the battle at Zaingraf the Union Fleet is severely under strength and under manned. As such if we cannot fulfil our operational objectives because of lack of resources we are to immediately withdraw from the engagement, I know we'd be leaving these people to their fates but we have to look out for ourselves first and foremost. But that's only if, at the moment we have plenty of firepower to remove this threat. Now onto the plan." Rena said bringing up the latest system scans.
-
"In the centre here you have the entrenched neutral forces here, they have a good set up and are able to withstand what the enemy can throw at them for the time being, time being the key word. These constructions here are believed to be weapons systems to destroy the defenders from distance away saving their forces for another engagement. The attackers fleet is spread out amongst each of these constructions, this plays to our advantage almost immediately we can use defeat in detail to counter their smaller groups while we retain our strength for future engagements." He zoomed in on the southern part of the system
"These four positions are going to be our first point of contact into the system, they're far enough away that the ships from the other sites will take some time to arrive allowing us to to move quickly in a hit and run strike on one target while strike craft and missiles move around the engagement zone the hit the sites left undefended, we'll be using the planet for cover and be flying under the radar so to speak to ensure the strike craft and munitions go undetected as long as possible. After the strike is done we'll move away and regroup for another strike. When we attack in this first run we need to destroy as many enemy ships as possible, unless they decide to restart construction those ships will only regroup at the other sites strengthening their position to the point where we'd need a fleet to dig them out. Subsequent planning will be done at the battle zone. That the plan so far Ladies and Gentlemen, report to your ships and await orders to depart." Rena ordered as the Captains gave a salute before walking out.
-
Grouped up and ready to leave the Union Fleet moved away from the anchorage and spun up their Close Space Drives. Thirty seven mirrored discs appeared in front of the fleet each one showed a clear reflection of the ship that was passing through even when the passed through into the Boras system. Sensors lit up with the battle zone coming into full view of the active scans of the Union Fleet, the Union Fleet would wait for their Pordish Allies to arrive before beginning their plan. For the moment however they sent a system wide message to the soon to be hostile fleet.
"This is the Union of Democratic States Navy, you are hereby ordered to cease all hostile activities against the civilian forces present and evacuate the system, failure to comply will result in hostile counter actions. You have twelve hours to comply." It was an automated message sent on a broad spectrum so anyone and everyone could hear it.
Alongside the deluge of scouting probes from the Union came elements of Chor Valyn's light skirmishers. They took up station beyond the heliopause of the system, swaddled within their individual cloaks, and sent forth their own organic scouting elements which sank into the rift and began to relay back passive gravimetric and quantum data. The first three runners were quick to gather what intelligence they considered satisfactory, and fell back in short order - after logging and categorizing what they found - but one boat in particular, the Tylaq Balnook type hull number R-2255, saw fit to remain on station to watch for changes in nature or disposition of the local forces. The information they sent back was analyzed by Pords and the UDS alike, and Chor Valyn himself wasted little time in pouring over the tide of intel...
Will you attend this briefing, nam-DritteJloknam? I've taken the liberty of alerting the wing commanders that the UDS is ready to finalize plans.
Valyn nods. I will, he says without looking up. On the table sits a projector with the system in question shown in vivid detail. Are the commanders here or on their own ships?
They're here in person, Malach confirms - more than aware of his superior's distaste for holograms - Whenever you are ready.
Valyn nods again. He grabs the projector and places it into his pocket. He stands from the chair and makes
his way to the door where his direct subordinates (Häzhel Yalsat, Balchüt Nalchoq, and Tryna Pokyshak) have gathered to meet him.
Namenchelas, Valyn salutes.
nam-DritteJloknam, the three return the gesture.
As they head to the meeting chamber with the UDS on a shuttle, they discuss the upcoming operation. Pokyshak is uncertain about the timetable while Nalchoq expresses concern about not waiting for the formation rotation they know is due to come soon. Valyn cannot address all of their concerns, but does note that if nothing else, the intelligence that they have gathered thus far does seem to be rather solid. Analysts have spent countless hours pouring over every detail of what his ships have managed to collect, and this has fostered a sensible level of confidence within him. As Nalchoq goes to return the subject back to the upcoming fleet rotation, they arrive at the meeting chamber with Admiral Rena.
The Pords gather around Rena's display of the system alongside the other UDS officers. Overall the plan is
a simple one - lean on speed and swiftness of action. It sits well with the Pordish commanders whose charge consist of runners and rift cruisers: the cavalry of the VRZ. Their speed is but the aureate torrent's pace, and so when Rena adjourns the meeting, they have no questions or concerns with the plan.
They head to their ships.
On the heels of the UDS force, the three Pordish formations set sail for the system. The light skirmishers are the first on the scene and decelerate in the distant reaches of the System Boras. They come to heel some light minutes from Union forces deployed by one of the four advised entry points. Moments later a wing of rift cruisers fade into reality not far from them, and joined - near another of the entry points - by the four cruisers of Tryna Pokyshak's wing.
In contrast to the automated message from the UDS, a more personal but far more blunt communique is relayed inward from the Pords, accompanied by the holographic form of Valyn himself for suites capable of interpreting such signals:
This is DritteJloknam Chor Valyn of the Imperial Nalydian Voznayte Rekazhgrazhni Zhamra. You have twelve hours to cease offensive action and withdraw from this system.
Between the time delay of the initial assault and the broadcast of the message, significant progress had been made on the Hurrikan platforms, with engines and rudimentary weapons systems already up and running. With the addition of the attackers' broadcast (accompanied by a good deal of chuckling from Imperial commanders) the resulting stratagem was clear.
The construction platforms and their accompanying fleets make a micro-FTL jump, reappearing as a more cohesive force centered on the three platforms in the northeast of the system. Once there, the fleet begins to form up properly as the carriers begin spewing out drones and interdict generators by the tens of thousands.
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[06:11]
Alhergus turned away from the viewport with a grin as the interdict sphere crackled to life, sealing everything inside the inner system off from FTL transit. From behind him, he heard a laugh. "Tell me, Alhergus. How long until you lose your mind?"
He started, taken aback. "Lose my mind? What are you on about, you cra-" The words died in his throat as he saw the speaker. She was dressed in the formal uniform of the Old Imperium, complete with gold and purple braid at her shoulders, but her face...Holy Star above, her face! Her eyes were bloody holes, and her cheeks a mess of shredded skin and muscle where she'd clawed herself to bits.
"I remember when I lost my mind. One moment I was trying to resist the Foe's command, the next, I was lost in the pain." She giggled. "I didn't even really feel my eyes pop, did you know? And after that, I was given orders to fire the first shots of the War in Heaven. Funny how it goes like that."
He roared in fury and denial. "NO! You are dead and gone! Stay GONE!" The last was accompanied by a searing lance of plasma cutting across the image of the damned woman and into the wall. As the light faded, he thought he could see the scars of other such attacks, almost as if he'd been through this before...but that couldn't be, could it?
Lost in contemplation of his increasingly unreliable memory, he never saw the sharp edged shape drift out of the shadows. "WELL. THAT DIDN'T WORK. LET'S TRY THIS AGAIN. HOLD STILL. "
The illusion of the long-dead officer continued to smile down at him, as he screamed, and screamed, and screamed...
Rena watched the countdown end and saw that the hostile fleet merely moved all of its assets into one position. He was not impressed and noted down their dedication to this assault. On his order he ordered all ships to make full speed towards the miners position, they had a strong position and now that the Imperium forces were on the back foot he would take this opportunity to reinforce them. The fact that the Imperium ships had maintained a clear cordon around them showed that they were packing weapons capable of causing damage to them. He informed the Pords of his move and began transmitting to the miners a message indicating that the Union fleet was there to help and they were coming to reinforce their position. In the meantime however Rena had his ship fire off volley after volley of missile and torpedo and sent them through close space in front of the miners position and towards the enemy where they stopped propulsion and lay in wait. The same was done with the Strike craft of his fleet to reinforce the position of the miners before the main Union fleet arrived.
The enemy pays no heed to their demands.
In the command room of his flagship, Chor Valyn watches as the Imperium forces gather and deploy for defense. With the ultimatum in place, he doesn't strike just yet, much to the irritation of Pokyshak. Their initial plan, however, no longer is applicable, and in the waning moments of the countdown, he adjusts his forces to more suit the developing field-conditions; his cruisers gather in the northern reaches of the system, "above" the miners but to the west of the Imperium fleet and their myriad constructed installations, while the runners remain in position on opposite ends of the system, bracketing it like vertices in some void-styled polyhedron.
UDS are advising us of their movement, nam-DritteJloknam, the tiny frame of the communications officer says. The communique is quick and to the point.
Valyn eyes the movement on the displays without movement of his own. After taking note of their disposition, he says: Good. We sho-
Tryna Pokyshak appears before him before he can continue. With a wide scowl she points to the Imperium positions and highlights them. Twelve hours, she says. Twelve. Hours.
The battalion commander says nothing of this directly, rather, he summons his two other commanders who(edited)
appear as well in short order. Without addressing the newcomers, he points to Tryna's highlighted positions. The enemy has elected to defend. We must oust them, he says.
Which battleplan do you suggest, nam-DritteJloknam? the runner commander, Häzhel Yalsat, asks as he recalls the various discussions on the matter they've had in the past half-day.
I think the fourth battle plan will do, Valyn declares. Let's start with a screen here, near where the UDS missiles and strike craft are forming up, just outside this interdiction sphere.
The officers salute and rescind their holograms.
In the void the Pordish forces begin the first phase of the new operation. The enemy's reluctance to withdraw has invalidated the initial allied battleplan, but then again, very few plans survive once confronted with opposition. A return communique is sent to the UDS then - along their line - cloistered about their strike craft and drifting missiles, a number of spatial distortions disgorge a collection of black spheres, followed shortly by the myriad tendrils of interdiction dampeners flickering to life (overlapping the current fields). The two cruiser formations drift eastward as shields and other systems are brought fully up to battle array, and a number of deep scans are loosed as they begin to acquire targets.
Alhergus huffed softly, considering the holo display as red dots filled it at an alarming rate. By itself, it wasn't overly troubling that they were reinforcing the miners' defenses, but it could be used as a flanking position later if the allied fleets felt they were being pressed too hard. Which necessitated dealing with it now.
Damnit.
He'd been hoping to hold off on assaulting the fortified position until the UDS and the Pords had been driven off, but there was nothing for it. If they couldn't break the defenses before the main fleets arrived, they'd need to attempt to withdraw. Being caught between a hammer and an anvil was simply unacceptable. He expanded the display and proceeded to issue the needed orders.
----------
At the rear of the fleet, the carriers the Imperium had brought with them rotated slightly, hangar bays opening and disgorging hundreds of thousands of AI-controlled drones. They swarmed so thick around the capital ships that on scanners they simply appeared as a blanketing swath of blurred signals. Then fully half of the massive Hurrikan platforms pulled about, engines flaring as they began to slowly accelerate towards the defenders, launchers acquiring targets as they came in range, but holding fire. Several thousand drones also broke off from the main fleet and moved into covering formations around the platforms.
Meanwhile at the front, the Rocinante cruisers maneuvered into battle lines, missile launchers cycling as they began calculating firing solutions.
The Acceleration of the UDS Fleet began to slow as they approached the miners position, Rena was still disappointed that the enemy had refused to withdraw and was now taking actions to move against him.
"Concentrate all kinetic fire on the closest platform and move from there. And raise interdiction we're holding this position, let the Pords know" He barked out to his CIC
One after the other the Fleets destroyers, heavy cruisers and its lone battle ship began firing in a murderous volley one after the other with all varying types of munitions from Fusion sabots to solid shot as well as the Super Accelerators molten beam which changed its shape mid flight. They kept track of the minefield that they had laid out and fired between the missiles to maintain the cohesion of the screen. With firing the first shot Rena was convinced he'd be able to turn back the enemy fleet one way or the other.
Valyn leans on his command console as he watches the field develop. In a quiet voice he reviews the enemy movements and the various other items of note taking shape. The nature of the field, now adulterated with drones and other automated warforms, is apparent.
UDS interdiction, nam-DritteJloknam, a voice calls from a battlestation some distance from Valyn.
Tasi, Tasinehdao, ihn velokna, he agrees. The indicators on his displays leave little room for doubt.
Then, as the enemy drifts closer to Rena's position, the telltale reports of fleet-volleys explode across the Pordish commander's feed. Without a nod or any other verbal confirmation of the joinder of battle, he waves his hand forward and says, commence.
For a fleeting instant, the various signatures of Array fire flicker up from the cruiser contingent. No beams, however, appear to follow these signatures. No, rather, the myriad spheroids embedded within the UDS strike craft and missile contingents divulge the volleys of the fleet followed, moments later, by even smaller spheroids that sail in shepherding capacity for the multitudinous assortment of attacks - in effect guiding them onto their final vectors towards their targets: the gathering cruisers at the fore of the hostile thrust.
Moments later, the main collection of Pordish ships - to the "west" of the Imperium fleet - brings itself up to combat speed on a southeasterly course with missile batteries and heavy artillery rotating into final position to begin firing.
The withering fire from the UDS ships ripped through the drones in front of the platform, hammering viciously into the thickened armor at the fore of the vessel. Undaunted, the advance continued even as entire sections of hull plating began splitting apart and shattering. With rounds increasing hammering through, the advance staggered and slowed. And then the accelerator strike hit the leading engine, cleaving through the cracked and scorched armor in a heartbeat and igniting the missile storage and the reactor cores.
The blinding flash as the Hurrikan died blinded sensors for light-minutes in every direction as hard radiation and plasma sleeted from the disintegrating wreck. The other platforms took the cover provided to begin opening fire, launching massed missile volleys in staggering numbers. Meanwhile, those drones that had survived the initial barrage swept forward to act as weapons themselves, along with reinforcements from the main fleet to the rear.
---------
The Pordish assault hammered the front lines, shredding cruisers with abandon as almost a quarter of the mustering force, twenty cruisers, was destroyed or otherwise damaged. On the flagship's bridge, Alhergus cursed as he watched his assault stagger and slow against the resistance. He hadn't anticipated the stiff defense, and breaking through that line was going to be hell against his fleet. Grimly, he bent his head over the display and issued new orders for his fleet.
The battered force of missile cruisers pulled back slightly as the remaining siege engines started accelerating at the limits of their engines, rapidly reaching blueshift speeds as they barreled forwards towards the miner's defenses. Unheeded, they'd simply smash through, and then break the planet open from the kinetic energy of the impact. At the same time, the main fleet began advancing as the long-range lances targeted the largest enemy ships and concentrated their fire against the ten or fifteen largest UDS and Pord ships.
With return fire incoming the frigates of the UDS fleet deployed the first wave of defence, sand missiles to detonate in the path of the AM beams headed right towards the carriers, the debris they spread would set the AM off prematurely before it could get to its target, these were the easiest to counter given the nature of AM and the missiles would keep firing as long as the AM was being fired. The other particle lances were a different story however with Meson screens they could be fended off somewhat but the odd beam still penetrated through this defence impacted the hull of its targets.
Rena's counter plan was simple, he would move all kinetic fire to the next siege engine that was moving in attack position and destroy it as he had done the first. The enemy fleet would remain a predominant issue with the counter fire now commencing but the main problem was the near light speed siege engines which began rapid acceleration towards the planet. Rena's main pint of attack against the enemy fleet was to redirect the fire from his heavy cruisers to use their hyper frequency lasers to target the enemy ships weapons systems that were currently firing against him. He saw the incoming siege engines as a ploy to use his mine field between him and the enemy fleet to open the way for them to begin a full on assault with their superior numbers. Instead he redirected the Bombers and fired the graviton torpedoes of his fleet to fire and detonate their munitions slightly away from the engines so that debris wouldn't be created from damages but to instead create a gravitc pull to bring the engines out of their current path and drift into space where they would hit someone else ten thousand years from now. As for the incoming drone swarms Rena deployed his own interceptors to counter them with the forward combat patrols movie to intercept first followed by several subsequent waves of several squadrons each which would engage at the front, break off and pursue the foe until they were whittled down to nothing.
Valyn stands from his seat and runs his fingers through his hair. In a sense, the opening of a battle is the most tiring phase - the uncertainty of what's to come; the exertion of preparation; the execution of actions (actions that set cosmic cogs in motion) - and as he feels his scalp and thinks on the muted hues of the once vibrant carpet growing on his head, he sinks into his chair and beats back a slight frown.
We are past that stage, the sensor operator says as he eyes him through the silence. Their lines are reforming.
Let them reform, Valyn nods. We just need to drive them out of the system. Give me a range reading.
Tasinehdao.
The requested information is sent to Valyn's command console and he reviews it. A colossal fountain of missile and then beam fire belches forth from the hostile fleet even as vast power signatures tell of the untimely demise of one of their number. Vast clouds of particle-energy balloon out along the distant edges of the Pordish defensive network as the lancefire destabilizes and diffuses against the flickering PAI fields of the fleet while point-defense fire and counter-missile swarms erupt to meet their hostile counterparts.
One of Pokyshak's cruisers comes under the heavy barrage and her entropic and kinetic-phasic barriers buckle from the onslaught. The vessel shudders as a turret is ripped free from its mounting and drifts off into space. On Pokyshak's bridge, an order comes through from Valyn. She passes it along to her boats and moments later the VRZ line responds with long range fire of its own. RPDCs and myriad missile types stream out towards the flank of the hostile fleet - targeting the largest ships first - while the black orbs embedded within the UDS formations fall silent.
The second siege engine shuddered as weapons fire cascaded against the hull, cracking through in places and sending gouts of fire rippling through gashes in the hull. Pulling aside, it continued to fire even as several missile launchers began to run dry from the prodigious rate of fire. Further back, its siblings followed suit, endeavoring to empty every last missile they had into the teeth of the UDS.
The main fleet, on the other hand, seeing that the antimatter beams were affecting nothing, began diverting more and more power to the particle lances. Just as one of the Apollo battleships pulled about to retarget its fire, the Pordish missiles ripped into its sides, overloading the shields in mere seconds and tearing deep into the superstructure beneath. Nor was it the only ship to suffer beneath Valyn's wrath, with three others of its brother perishing along with it and a half-dozen more injured in some way.
Reeling, the missile platforms suddenly parted to reveal almost two dozen Ares battleships, pushing hard as they opened fire with scores of fusion cannon batteries. From his bridge, Alhergus smirked slightly as he saw the gap between the battling fleets filled with searing orbs of light raining down against the Pords. Victory would be costly, but in truth, he didn't have to win here. He'd never really needed to drive the ships of the Greater Powers from the field, he merely required a...distraction. And as he turned his gaze to the planet sheltered beneath the defense satellites that had necessitated this entire debacle, he saw his answer arrive like the wrath of an almighty god.
--------------
Any organic crew that had been onboard the accelerating siege engines had died when they began ramping their speed up, pasted against the nearest wall. Despite that, the AI operating the platforms in their absence had been well programmed and held the course. At the velocity the engines were racing along, the UDS gravity well had virtually no perceptible effect on their trajectory, but it did slow the leading engine down enough that the high power laser fusillade from the defense grid was able to shear it apart with little effort.
This meant, though, that tumbling pieces of debris were suddenly flying through the orbital space of the world at speeds approaching that of light. Several laser batteries were shredded, but the automated defenses continued firing, killing first another, and then ultimately a third platform. Even as this was occurring, ever more of the corporate satellites were destroyed by debris or missiles, until the fourth engine sped through a gap in the defenses to impact the planet.
From the surface, the collision would've been a majestic sight, if it hadn't happened at nine tenths lightspeed. The blast was catastrophic, throwing hundreds of thousands of tons of crustal material into the air and even casting a cone of molten rock into low orbit. Every body of water within several thousand miles of the impact boiled, and on the other side of the planet, the shock waves caused mega-quakes and made volcanoes erupt.
Then the last engine hit.
If the first impact had been catastrophic, this one was world-ending. Straight on the heels of the last engine as it was, it punched even deeper, ripping through the mantle and into the planetary core. Beyond simply a compounding of the initial disaster, the effects wouldn't be apparent for years yet, but the imparted energy had been enough to alter the planet's orbit. The world had been murdered with the first blow. This was merely an insult to injury.
Rena paced around the central console of his CIC angrily as he looked at the devastation caused by the impromptu missiles. He swore under his breath as his ensigns called out reports of damages and losses from his fleet.
"Use the minefield and begin pulling out, tell the Pords of our action. We'll move the fleet full reverse to the edge of the system where we entered. Move all fighters back to cover their carriers and recall all bombers." Rena shouted, reigning in his anger and giving his order stoically. He was met with a wave of Aye, Ayes and Yessirs in response from his CIC crew.
The Missiles which had to this point been ignored roared to life as engines roared to life and they made their ways towards the closest ships of the HI Fleet, it was a cacophony of Sustained Fusion and Graviton warheads that would cover the retreating forces of the UDS. The rest of the fleet didn;t sit idly however with the decrease in range the secondary weapons were now in effective range with salvo after salvo of Dual Series 3000 Accelerators opened up alongside the just as powerful Meson Lasers. The Finer weapons of the fleet namely the Hyperfrequency Lasers continued their assault on weapons hardpoints. All together the UDS Fleet began a full reverse course as their fire continued.
Rena took a moment to step out of the hectic CIC, bracing himself as the ship rocked from the occasional tremor that accompanied the detonation of the HI ordinance. He went to his ready room to make a direct call to HICOM which was at this point still in disarray since the death of Sara Switch at Zaingraf. It was now a secretary who took the calls and the Fleet Admirals of the UDS Navy were the ones calling the shots, they voted on matters democratically with the majority rule passing. It wasn't a perfect system but it was working until they could find someone willing to take a position that had a high mortality rate. The secretary confirmed his transmission and noted the losses of his interception. For Now though Rena concentrated on the ongoing battle which he would hope come to an end once the Imperium forces saw that he was in full retreat and hoped the Pords would do the same.
Denizens of Happenstance
It happens almost in slow motion.
Pokyshak eyes the enemy movements as their positions are relayed to her bridge: each step they take closer to the world in question an affront to her initial plans and desire for immediate action. But there is little that she can do as the unfortunate reality materializes around her. Far removed from the point of action, she is dyklachon, one without initiative. She bolts from her command console with a furious clattering of swords and falling cups, and yells out across the bridge:
Valyn! Jlokhemitdamn you, Valyn! You've lost me this battle!
The bridge officers pay no heed to her aggression. Far more relevant matters are afoot as she yells in their background; the enemy - no longer slaved to hurling anti-matter lances - has elected to rotate entirely to more conventional particle beam types. Thus divorced from the privilege of antimatter's total annihilation (its greatest convenience when engaged against Valyn's PAI fields), the far less clean nature of the particle lances soaks the surrounding fabrics with diffusing and dispersing hadronic fog, far more than was present just moments ago, nearly compelling entire regions of the Array interdiction field into oversaturation.
PAI fields are not maintaining coherence, Pokyshak's sensory officer finally admits to the wing commander, we will have to adjust defensive algorithms if we wish to maintain current levels of defensive aptitude.
We- Pokyshak begins, only to be interrupted by the vessel lurching heavily.
Particle lance impacted a starboard ablation drive, the same sensory officer explains. And then, almost as if to further prove his point, the vessel lurches again. We have to adjust.
Pokyshak settles back into her chair. Very well, she says. We will adjust algorithms. Retrain batteries onto the nearest ships there, regardless of size, she orders, relay that to the wing. Array to Individual Battle stance; let the captains use that as they see fit.
Tasi! comes the reply; tasinehdao! it is echoed.
Her attention is taken by an updated packet of data beamed over from Valyn's flagship - amending her area of operations and expected mission profile - that are verified by new coordinate-waypoints that flicker to life on her central displays, which are (in turn) accompanied by a single-word line from Valyn: withdraw.
Withdraw, she seethes, I've got a good mind to go ahe-
Chor Valyn's hologram flickers to life before her, cutting her off for a second time in nearly as many minutes. He looks around, shakes his head, then leans back into his chair. The holograms of the other wing commanders fade into view only seconds after Valyn's arrival.
The UDS have decided to withdraw, Valyn says. His tone is flat and clashes with Pokyshak's mood. Given the circumstances, and the sum of enemies still effective against us, we have no choice other than to withdraw as well, he continues to explain. On the displays the various markers denoting the black orbs embedded within the UDS formation mirror their movements, stuck as they are within the interdiction field.
Pokyshak nods, as do the other Pords present.
Given the rather abrupt nature of this change in our strategy, I thought you would appreciate being given these orders in person, he goes on. Are there any questions concerning this order of business?
The runner commander - Häzhel Yalsat - and other cruiser commanders shake their heads: No. We have no questions.
Dismissed, Valyn says and rescinds his hologram.
Well, Pokyshak slumps into her chair, set course... For system edge.
Tasi.
Tasinehdao.
On ships all across the Imperial fleet, a ragged cheer could be heard coming up from the crews as they saw the UDS and Pordish fleets begin to withdraw from the fray. And, Alhergus mused, watching the crew on his own bridge, not a moment too soon. He winced as he saw the munitions from the impromptu minefield savage his flank, butchering seven carriers and half a dozen more cruisers.
As the enemy pulled out of effective weapons range, he surveyed his losses. He'd arrived with just over a hundred and fifty ships, and built ten siege engines. Now, at the end of the battle, he'd lost all but two engines, and almost a third of his fleet. Hopefully, if the bastard would bugger off, he could build a makeshift yard and make good his losses. Turning aside from the display, he was about to retire to his quarters to see to the necessary arrangements and logistical needs when his comm pinged.
Hesitating, and knowing what the communication likely was, the former Imperator sighed, then tapped his comm. And as the message expanded, rotating to display its full content, he knew that he'd been right. The spineless cowards in Zaoth had abandoned the cause and even gone so far as to order him to withdraw. And for a moment, looking out the viewport at the wreckage of his ships and the world he'd killed, he considered it.
A flicker of shadows at the corner of his eye drew his gaze, as a soft voice murmured Why should you listen to them? They have not the will to see the task done...
Alhergus' face hardened and he squared his shoulders. Star Above, he had the will, and more, he had the means. He'd scour every star in the core region clean of life if needed…
“Admiral?” One of the ensigns called from communications.
“Yes?” He replied back putting his thought to the side
“Pords are confirmed to be retreating from the system too.” The ensign said cheerily
“Good, tell them we’ll meet back at Fort Denison and we’ll tend to their damages and wounded personnel there.” He retorted back stoically
With Imperium forces letting up their pursuit of his retreating forces, Rena finally gave the order to silence the guns. They were far from effective range and both he and the Imperium would know that. He looked over his subordinates as they attended their stations. Navigation was busy hurriedly plotting a Close Space jump back to friendly territory, while Damage control was shouting through their headsets to keep the ship together, Squadron command was confirming the landing of the last flight of strike craft had landed. Rena simply stood in the middle as it happened. It was a loss today of catastrophic proportions and the fate of those left would be indiscernible. He wouldn’t let this lie though and was already making plans to keep an eye on the Imperium forces in the system.
Deep down, Valyn understands he miscalculated. It is a very major thing, one necessarily to be accompanied by ramifications in the coming days and weeks. He rubs his forehead and settles into his chair before thinking better of his. He stands and heads for the door. He queues his communicator and says to his aide, Ready a strong tumbler of nog, then shuts the door to the command room behind him.
Repairs will be made and casualties accounted for, but those are some time off. The nog is now, and so Valyn focuses his mind on the cool textures and pleasant aroma...
AME060/10/23 (SEALED RECORD, PRAETORIAN-CLEARANCE. NOTE FOLLOWS) By vote of the Interior Council, you are hereby ordered to develop plans for an extended campaign against the Unaligned powers of the core systems. Thereafter, you are to muster forces of an appropriate size to such a campaign and proceed forthwith to prosecution, and to bring fire and sword to any resistance.
--------------
Alhergus snarled and made the message vanish with a flick of his hand, slouching back against the command seat on the bridge. Even after almost three months of preparation, it still galled him to read it and be reminded of the temerity of these damn dreftallech. But he was bound, and there wasn't any chance of that changing soon....
Another gesture brought up an angled display of the Boras system, as seen from above the ecliptic. It was speckled with green dots throughout, and a ring of darker emerald held position at the heart of the system around the storage facilities. Made sense, as mining operations like these were constantly plagued by pirates, but that didn't make it any easier to combat... He looked at it for several seconds, before tilting his head and marking the display, indicating a dispersal pattern for the fleet that would drive the miners behind the ring and keep them there. Then he opened a fleet-wide broadcast.
"Clear the way."
-------------------------
Several hours later, his tactical officer pinged him and connected to the main bridge screens. "We have a runner sir. Large class cargo hauler, scans indicate several thousand life-signs. Wolf pack Alpha's asking for orders."
He snorted and enhanced the image. "Orders didn't suddenly change. Run them down."
The officer hesitated slightly. "Sir? There are innocents aboard. We-"
"We have a command from the Senate. A command that we will be fulfilling. Now tell Alpha to run them down."
"Sir, I cannot give the order to fire on -" This prompted a rolling chuckle before the patriarch leaned forward and opened his own channel.
"Objection noted. They'll be brought in and processed instead. I understand we brought several Breeding Masters, yes?" The officer turned slightly green, but relayed the orders. Then again, Alhergus reflected, the heat haze forming around his hand probably hadn't hurt much either...
-------------------------
Setting up a system-wide siege wasn't very conducive to sleep, but he was managing, albeit with the help of some very nice booze, and an even better bedmate. He'd just started to drift off when the ding of his comm dragged him out bed as he fumbled at the device. "What is it?"
On further thought, the gravel-laced voice of a Legion centurion wasn't the best thing to wake up to. "We intercepted a runner, sir."
"Nngh. But?"
"They got a message out. We tried, but it was on a timer and we couldn't override the ship in time."
"Good work, soldier. Now fuck off." He rolled over and laughed to himself. Well, at least that was going to plan if nothing else was...
Union of Democratic States Southern Fleet Anchorage 'Fort Denison', Old Auraxii Space, AME 60/10/23
It was four in the morning local time and Admiral Corban Rena was sound asleep in his private quarters aboard the station, reveille was in a few hours and the day was going to begin. Today was a bust schedule with a conjoined show of force via military exercises to show the Varren rebels that they were still being watched. Invited to join the Pordish Navy, this was a decision by HICOM to encourage better cooperation and coordination between the two militaries. The Military exercises were going to be a planetary invasion attempt by the attack Union forces while the Pords held the line and tried to stop them at any cost, it was given a schedule of three months for all Union objective to be completed or for their forces to be depleted to the point that the assault was no longer viable. But this exercise was not meant to be as Admiral Rena was about to become aware of as his emergency line began going off.
"This had better be good." Rena said groggily
"Sir orders from HICOM, transmitting a data packet to you now." The operator responded before hanging up.
-
The packet arrived at the Admirals computer with a boisterous ping as he stumbled over and began reading. It was a high priority order package with the intent to mobilise immediately, a mining station had come under siege and was requesting back close to the Unions sphere of influence. An unencountered nation known simply as the High Imperium was spearheading the assault but had become bogged down in a siege of the system. HICOM had determined that such an ambitious and bold attack on a neutral target by a foreign power in the Unions sphere of influence should be dealt with swiftly and without incident. When he came to the operations stage of the packet under deployed forces was the word pending next to the Pordish fleet that had come down to participate in the exercises. With Union Assets tied down in peacekeeping and rebuilding after the battle and Zaingraf they were more reliant on outside help than ever before. Once he completed reading the details of the operation he signed heavily.
"Well there goes an easy three months." he said to himself melodramatically before he picked up the phone to the duty officer.
"Admiral! what can i do for you sir." The officer responded in a surprised tone.
"Yeah, Jack put the cards away and sounded the alert we're mobilising in three hours. I want full combat readiness in two." Rena said smugly, the officer confirmed and hung up and almost immediately the alarms and claxons began blaring throughout the station.
"ACTION STATIONS, ALL HANDS RETURN TO YOUR SHIPS AND PREPARE FOR MOBILISATION. CAPTAINS REPORT TO THE BRIEFING ROOM. I SAY AGAIN ACTION STATIONS, ACTIONS STATIONS" Came from the station PA system for the next forty minutes.
-
In the briefing room assembled the captains of Rena's fleet, it was a small force consisting of only thirty seven vessels down from fifty, thanks to reassignments to the other fleets to maintain unit cohesion. These thirty seven captains were going to be the liberating force for the siege defenders and so they needed to be brought up to speed on the situation. In the room they stood around a large console which had a holographic display of the target system.
"Ladies and Gentlemen firstly thank you for getting here in fine order, secondly the exercises are cancelled due to a new threat that HICOM has decided we need to go and flush out. currently we have minimal data from the distress call and long range scan which shows a large number of blobs..." He said looking at the display
"Honestly why do they even bother with those." He joked with his subordinates
"Back to the matter at hand once we have achieved mobilisation status we'll be sending recon probes to conduct accurate scans of the system so we can identify a safe jump point for our fleet and hopefully the Pordish Fleet if they answer the call. Once we have more accurate data we'll begin planning initial offensive operations against the target. Time is of the essence so we need to move quickly, keep everyone on their toes and swap out crew who need a break, have them going at minimum twelve hours, though so we can cut down on hand overs." Rena said casually
"If there's no questions, you're dismissed to oversee your ships until I call you again." He ordered, he was met with a salute and the officers strode away back to their ships.
For now it was the waiting game for recon to be conducted and to see if the Pords would accept the call to arms.
Chor Valyn sits quietly in the officer's lounge of his flagship. Fried walrus is good, and the other Pords stationed on his boat know not to come between him and his meal. Steam climbs towards the ceiling and poofs against the bulkhead as he shovels a large helping into his mouth. The deep auburn hues of the portion, perfectly variegated with creamy-white marbling, only complement the sharp aroma of the dish. Tasi, he admits to himself, this is good. The heat yields to a panoply of flavours and he nods satisfactorily with each bite.
…And to his left a tall tumbler of frothy drink waits in anticipation. With an outstretched hand he reaches for it, then…
There is a knocking on the door.
Come in, he bellows through the wooden finish of the bulkhead.
The door opens and a Pord - a naval intelligence officer judging by the white trim of his garb - steps through into the lounge. He salutes with a single crisp movement: nam-Valyn DritteJloknam.
Valyn nods and motions for the Pord to come forward. He chews slowly and scratches his chin through the forest growing beneath his lip. What do you have for me?
The intelligence officer nods and places a small holo-projector onto the table. Audio begins to play from it and details some sort of assault. Valyn continues to chew with an unimpressed scowl plastered about his jowls. After a moment or two the intelligence officer chimes in again: This isn't all, nam-DritteJloknam.
Valyn nods again and waves over the holo-projector. The audio feed skips past the remaining details of the assault and starts back up with a communique from the Union of Democratic States.
The UDS are mobilizing to assist, nam-Valyn. They have called off our exercises.
I should have known some shit like this was going to happen, Valyn grumbles, this type of shit always happens. He stands up and brushes off the few specks of food that found their way onto his
trousers and cues his communicator. The tiny visage of his adjutant flickers to life upon it, and he then says to him: get my coat ready.
The tiny visage salutes and the communications line is cut.
He turns back to the intelligence officer. Is that everything?
The officer nods and takes the hint. He salutes and disappears back through the door nearly as swiftly as he came.
Valyn takes a moment to finish the remaining portions of his walrus. There are two large sections left and a generous serving of steamed weed roots. He polishes off both of these, defeats the large jug of drink that now sits empty next to the plate, and then heads for the door himself. As he reaches it he is met by his adjutant.
Here is your coat, Malach says, I heard the news about the attack.
UDS are planning on assisting, Valyn elaborates, we'd benefit from working alongside them there now that our exercises have been shelved.
Shall I summon the wing commanders?
No, let them rest for a few more hours. In the meantime, send a communique back to Admiral Rena. Tell him that we will assist their efforts in this system, and that my scouting elements will be ready to sail in rapid order.
Malach makes a mental note of the request. I'll see to it, nam-DritteJloknam. Are you done with breakfast? He points to the empty plate and the equally barren jug towering over it.
Of course, but not before news of this silliness arrived.
The adjutant chuckles quietly. Very well, he salutes and shuffles out of the chamber followed - a moment or two later - by Valyn.
Alhergus slouched further into the chair as the man in front of him kept ranting. Honestly, bureaucracy was one thing, but this was still his operation. He should probably cut the moron off right about...now. A kinetic pulse knocked the ingrate ass over teakettle as the ancient lord rose to his feet and stormed forward.
While the emissary from the Senate was still spluttering, Alhergus grabbed him by the collar and hefted, snarling. "You could keep rambling, or you could go back to the Senate and tell them this: I was told to bring fire and sword to these stars. And that is exactly what I am going to do. I will bring horror and wrath, and I will remind those inbred, costumed shits exactly why they never should've woken me."
He had to give the man credit. Despite choking and gasping for air, he still managed to respond with the arrogance that infuriated him so much when it came to the dreft. "You still answer to the Senate, and you have not been given leave for a campaign against the ringworld structure."
This prompted a roar and vigorous shaking. "Leave be damned! By the time I'm done, I'll have left a trail of death and ruin a hundred systems across. Now get out!" He flung the idiot headlong from the audience room and sealed the door. He glared at the bulkhead for several moments before storming back towards his strategy room.
As he entered the room, the woman on the other side of the hololith clapped her hands. "Well, that was suitably dramatic. Care to tell me now what we're really doing here? No way in hell you brought half your fleet to lay siege to a backwater mining station. There's more to this."
He laughed, crossing to a table and pouring a drink. "Sharp as ever, you crusty old bitch. Should've known, really. But honestly, this whole mess is mostly a smokescreen, while I set things up elsewhere."
"Mostly?"
"Well, at the very least, we'll get to see who's going to fight us, and analyze them properly. Maybe even salvage a ship or two if we're lucky. And then there's the matter of capturing some slaves for the Engine."
She arched an eyebrow in surprise. "I thought you learned your lesson with those nightmares after your cage-match with the Enemy. Besides, last I heard, it wasn't working right."
He winced. "You sound entirely too smug about that. However, not working right doesn't mean not working at all. Apparently some of the lower-grade quantum manipulations are still running. If we can build another one under controlled conditions, we could properly harness some of those for broader use. It'd be a massive advance in tech and give us a fighting chance if things go sideways."
"What is all of this leading to? What are you after, Alhergus?"
He slammed the glass down and whirled around, eyes blazing. "What am I after? I'm after the same thing we've been working towards ever since they woke us from death. I want to see the crystal spires of Taros again and walk her streets as a citizen of the most powerful and dreaded polity in this Spiral. I want to burn every last filthy xenos to ash, and erase them from existence. I want to see the Star venerated and worshiped as it was in days of old, the only true god. I want our descendants to remember that we used to rule with an iron fist drenched in the blood of the alien and the heretic. I want to see the Imperium of yore, the empire we built together, rise again in fury and rage. That is what I am after."
He downed the rest of the glass and strode out of the room, the lights automatically turning off without any occupants.
----------------------------
It had been almost a week since the initial assault, and the miners had been forced behind their lines. But while they could not leave, the defenses were too strong for the attacking fleet to break without excessive losses. So Alhergus had fallen back on the age-old strategy of besieging commanders everywhere: siege engines. Ten colossal asteroids of at least 50 km each were slowly being converted into warships, with engines grafted on and rock reprocessed into armor. Now it would be a race against time and any reinforcements....
The Probes had done their job as expendable en masse reconnaissance, it took a few days to get the whole picture of the system and the operation that the enemy had going on for them. Now it was time for the Union to make its move alongside its Pordish Allies. Admiral Rena had summoned his captains back into the meeting room and invited the Pords to join this time. With the new data they could formulate a plan of attack to assist the besieged miners.
"I know it's been a boring couple of days with the hurry up and wait but as we know these things take time. Reinforcements aren't coming as the rumours would have spread around already, after the Dectrose invasion and the battle at Zaingraf the Union Fleet is severely under strength and under manned. As such if we cannot fulfil our operational objectives because of lack of resources we are to immediately withdraw from the engagement, I know we'd be leaving these people to their fates but we have to look out for ourselves first and foremost. But that's only if, at the moment we have plenty of firepower to remove this threat. Now onto the plan." Rena said bringing up the latest system scans.
-
"In the centre here you have the entrenched neutral forces here, they have a good set up and are able to withstand what the enemy can throw at them for the time being, time being the key word. These constructions here are believed to be weapons systems to destroy the defenders from distance away saving their forces for another engagement. The attackers fleet is spread out amongst each of these constructions, this plays to our advantage almost immediately we can use defeat in detail to counter their smaller groups while we retain our strength for future engagements." He zoomed in on the southern part of the system
"These four positions are going to be our first point of contact into the system, they're far enough away that the ships from the other sites will take some time to arrive allowing us to to move quickly in a hit and run strike on one target while strike craft and missiles move around the engagement zone the hit the sites left undefended, we'll be using the planet for cover and be flying under the radar so to speak to ensure the strike craft and munitions go undetected as long as possible. After the strike is done we'll move away and regroup for another strike. When we attack in this first run we need to destroy as many enemy ships as possible, unless they decide to restart construction those ships will only regroup at the other sites strengthening their position to the point where we'd need a fleet to dig them out. Subsequent planning will be done at the battle zone. That the plan so far Ladies and Gentlemen, report to your ships and await orders to depart." Rena ordered as the Captains gave a salute before walking out.
-
Grouped up and ready to leave the Union Fleet moved away from the anchorage and spun up their Close Space Drives. Thirty seven mirrored discs appeared in front of the fleet each one showed a clear reflection of the ship that was passing through even when the passed through into the Boras system. Sensors lit up with the battle zone coming into full view of the active scans of the Union Fleet, the Union Fleet would wait for their Pordish Allies to arrive before beginning their plan. For the moment however they sent a system wide message to the soon to be hostile fleet.
"This is the Union of Democratic States Navy, you are hereby ordered to cease all hostile activities against the civilian forces present and evacuate the system, failure to comply will result in hostile counter actions. You have twelve hours to comply." It was an automated message sent on a broad spectrum so anyone and everyone could hear it.
Alongside the deluge of scouting probes from the Union came elements of Chor Valyn's light skirmishers. They took up station beyond the heliopause of the system, swaddled within their individual cloaks, and sent forth their own organic scouting elements which sank into the rift and began to relay back passive gravimetric and quantum data. The first three runners were quick to gather what intelligence they considered satisfactory, and fell back in short order - after logging and categorizing what they found - but one boat in particular, the Tylaq Balnook type hull number R-2255, saw fit to remain on station to watch for changes in nature or disposition of the local forces. The information they sent back was analyzed by Pords and the UDS alike, and Chor Valyn himself wasted little time in pouring over the tide of intel...
Will you attend this briefing, nam-DritteJloknam? I've taken the liberty of alerting the wing commanders that the UDS is ready to finalize plans.
Valyn nods. I will, he says without looking up. On the table sits a projector with the system in question shown in vivid detail. Are the commanders here or on their own ships?
They're here in person, Malach confirms - more than aware of his superior's distaste for holograms - Whenever you are ready.
Valyn nods again. He grabs the projector and places it into his pocket. He stands from the chair and makes
his way to the door where his direct subordinates (Häzhel Yalsat, Balchüt Nalchoq, and Tryna Pokyshak) have gathered to meet him.
Namenchelas, Valyn salutes.
nam-DritteJloknam, the three return the gesture.
As they head to the meeting chamber with the UDS on a shuttle, they discuss the upcoming operation. Pokyshak is uncertain about the timetable while Nalchoq expresses concern about not waiting for the formation rotation they know is due to come soon. Valyn cannot address all of their concerns, but does note that if nothing else, the intelligence that they have gathered thus far does seem to be rather solid. Analysts have spent countless hours pouring over every detail of what his ships have managed to collect, and this has fostered a sensible level of confidence within him. As Nalchoq goes to return the subject back to the upcoming fleet rotation, they arrive at the meeting chamber with Admiral Rena.
The Pords gather around Rena's display of the system alongside the other UDS officers. Overall the plan is
a simple one - lean on speed and swiftness of action. It sits well with the Pordish commanders whose charge consist of runners and rift cruisers: the cavalry of the VRZ. Their speed is but the aureate torrent's pace, and so when Rena adjourns the meeting, they have no questions or concerns with the plan.
They head to their ships.
On the heels of the UDS force, the three Pordish formations set sail for the system. The light skirmishers are the first on the scene and decelerate in the distant reaches of the System Boras. They come to heel some light minutes from Union forces deployed by one of the four advised entry points. Moments later a wing of rift cruisers fade into reality not far from them, and joined - near another of the entry points - by the four cruisers of Tryna Pokyshak's wing.
In contrast to the automated message from the UDS, a more personal but far more blunt communique is relayed inward from the Pords, accompanied by the holographic form of Valyn himself for suites capable of interpreting such signals:
This is DritteJloknam Chor Valyn of the Imperial Nalydian Voznayte Rekazhgrazhni Zhamra. You have twelve hours to cease offensive action and withdraw from this system.
Between the time delay of the initial assault and the broadcast of the message, significant progress had been made on the Hurrikan platforms, with engines and rudimentary weapons systems already up and running. With the addition of the attackers' broadcast (accompanied by a good deal of chuckling from Imperial commanders) the resulting stratagem was clear.
The construction platforms and their accompanying fleets make a micro-FTL jump, reappearing as a more cohesive force centered on the three platforms in the northeast of the system. Once there, the fleet begins to form up properly as the carriers begin spewing out drones and interdict generators by the tens of thousands.
-------------
[06:11]
Alhergus turned away from the viewport with a grin as the interdict sphere crackled to life, sealing everything inside the inner system off from FTL transit. From behind him, he heard a laugh. "Tell me, Alhergus. How long until you lose your mind?"
He started, taken aback. "Lose my mind? What are you on about, you cra-" The words died in his throat as he saw the speaker. She was dressed in the formal uniform of the Old Imperium, complete with gold and purple braid at her shoulders, but her face...Holy Star above, her face! Her eyes were bloody holes, and her cheeks a mess of shredded skin and muscle where she'd clawed herself to bits.
"I remember when I lost my mind. One moment I was trying to resist the Foe's command, the next, I was lost in the pain." She giggled. "I didn't even really feel my eyes pop, did you know? And after that, I was given orders to fire the first shots of the War in Heaven. Funny how it goes like that."
He roared in fury and denial. "NO! You are dead and gone! Stay GONE!" The last was accompanied by a searing lance of plasma cutting across the image of the damned woman and into the wall. As the light faded, he thought he could see the scars of other such attacks, almost as if he'd been through this before...but that couldn't be, could it?
Lost in contemplation of his increasingly unreliable memory, he never saw the sharp edged shape drift out of the shadows. "WELL. THAT DIDN'T WORK. LET'S TRY THIS AGAIN. HOLD STILL. "
The illusion of the long-dead officer continued to smile down at him, as he screamed, and screamed, and screamed...
Rena watched the countdown end and saw that the hostile fleet merely moved all of its assets into one position. He was not impressed and noted down their dedication to this assault. On his order he ordered all ships to make full speed towards the miners position, they had a strong position and now that the Imperium forces were on the back foot he would take this opportunity to reinforce them. The fact that the Imperium ships had maintained a clear cordon around them showed that they were packing weapons capable of causing damage to them. He informed the Pords of his move and began transmitting to the miners a message indicating that the Union fleet was there to help and they were coming to reinforce their position. In the meantime however Rena had his ship fire off volley after volley of missile and torpedo and sent them through close space in front of the miners position and towards the enemy where they stopped propulsion and lay in wait. The same was done with the Strike craft of his fleet to reinforce the position of the miners before the main Union fleet arrived.
The enemy pays no heed to their demands.
In the command room of his flagship, Chor Valyn watches as the Imperium forces gather and deploy for defense. With the ultimatum in place, he doesn't strike just yet, much to the irritation of Pokyshak. Their initial plan, however, no longer is applicable, and in the waning moments of the countdown, he adjusts his forces to more suit the developing field-conditions; his cruisers gather in the northern reaches of the system, "above" the miners but to the west of the Imperium fleet and their myriad constructed installations, while the runners remain in position on opposite ends of the system, bracketing it like vertices in some void-styled polyhedron.
UDS are advising us of their movement, nam-DritteJloknam, the tiny frame of the communications officer says. The communique is quick and to the point.
Valyn eyes the movement on the displays without movement of his own. After taking note of their disposition, he says: Good. We sho-
Tryna Pokyshak appears before him before he can continue. With a wide scowl she points to the Imperium positions and highlights them. Twelve hours, she says. Twelve. Hours.
The battalion commander says nothing of this directly, rather, he summons his two other commanders who(edited)
appear as well in short order. Without addressing the newcomers, he points to Tryna's highlighted positions. The enemy has elected to defend. We must oust them, he says.
Which battleplan do you suggest, nam-DritteJloknam? the runner commander, Häzhel Yalsat, asks as he recalls the various discussions on the matter they've had in the past half-day.
I think the fourth battle plan will do, Valyn declares. Let's start with a screen here, near where the UDS missiles and strike craft are forming up, just outside this interdiction sphere.
The officers salute and rescind their holograms.
In the void the Pordish forces begin the first phase of the new operation. The enemy's reluctance to withdraw has invalidated the initial allied battleplan, but then again, very few plans survive once confronted with opposition. A return communique is sent to the UDS then - along their line - cloistered about their strike craft and drifting missiles, a number of spatial distortions disgorge a collection of black spheres, followed shortly by the myriad tendrils of interdiction dampeners flickering to life (overlapping the current fields). The two cruiser formations drift eastward as shields and other systems are brought fully up to battle array, and a number of deep scans are loosed as they begin to acquire targets.
Alhergus huffed softly, considering the holo display as red dots filled it at an alarming rate. By itself, it wasn't overly troubling that they were reinforcing the miners' defenses, but it could be used as a flanking position later if the allied fleets felt they were being pressed too hard. Which necessitated dealing with it now.
Damnit.
He'd been hoping to hold off on assaulting the fortified position until the UDS and the Pords had been driven off, but there was nothing for it. If they couldn't break the defenses before the main fleets arrived, they'd need to attempt to withdraw. Being caught between a hammer and an anvil was simply unacceptable. He expanded the display and proceeded to issue the needed orders.
----------
At the rear of the fleet, the carriers the Imperium had brought with them rotated slightly, hangar bays opening and disgorging hundreds of thousands of AI-controlled drones. They swarmed so thick around the capital ships that on scanners they simply appeared as a blanketing swath of blurred signals. Then fully half of the massive Hurrikan platforms pulled about, engines flaring as they began to slowly accelerate towards the defenders, launchers acquiring targets as they came in range, but holding fire. Several thousand drones also broke off from the main fleet and moved into covering formations around the platforms.
Meanwhile at the front, the Rocinante cruisers maneuvered into battle lines, missile launchers cycling as they began calculating firing solutions.
The Acceleration of the UDS Fleet began to slow as they approached the miners position, Rena was still disappointed that the enemy had refused to withdraw and was now taking actions to move against him.
"Concentrate all kinetic fire on the closest platform and move from there. And raise interdiction we're holding this position, let the Pords know" He barked out to his CIC
One after the other the Fleets destroyers, heavy cruisers and its lone battle ship began firing in a murderous volley one after the other with all varying types of munitions from Fusion sabots to solid shot as well as the Super Accelerators molten beam which changed its shape mid flight. They kept track of the minefield that they had laid out and fired between the missiles to maintain the cohesion of the screen. With firing the first shot Rena was convinced he'd be able to turn back the enemy fleet one way or the other.
Valyn leans on his command console as he watches the field develop. In a quiet voice he reviews the enemy movements and the various other items of note taking shape. The nature of the field, now adulterated with drones and other automated warforms, is apparent.
UDS interdiction, nam-DritteJloknam, a voice calls from a battlestation some distance from Valyn.
Tasi, Tasinehdao, ihn velokna, he agrees. The indicators on his displays leave little room for doubt.
Then, as the enemy drifts closer to Rena's position, the telltale reports of fleet-volleys explode across the Pordish commander's feed. Without a nod or any other verbal confirmation of the joinder of battle, he waves his hand forward and says, commence.
For a fleeting instant, the various signatures of Array fire flicker up from the cruiser contingent. No beams, however, appear to follow these signatures. No, rather, the myriad spheroids embedded within the UDS strike craft and missile contingents divulge the volleys of the fleet followed, moments later, by even smaller spheroids that sail in shepherding capacity for the multitudinous assortment of attacks - in effect guiding them onto their final vectors towards their targets: the gathering cruisers at the fore of the hostile thrust.
Moments later, the main collection of Pordish ships - to the "west" of the Imperium fleet - brings itself up to combat speed on a southeasterly course with missile batteries and heavy artillery rotating into final position to begin firing.
The withering fire from the UDS ships ripped through the drones in front of the platform, hammering viciously into the thickened armor at the fore of the vessel. Undaunted, the advance continued even as entire sections of hull plating began splitting apart and shattering. With rounds increasing hammering through, the advance staggered and slowed. And then the accelerator strike hit the leading engine, cleaving through the cracked and scorched armor in a heartbeat and igniting the missile storage and the reactor cores.
The blinding flash as the Hurrikan died blinded sensors for light-minutes in every direction as hard radiation and plasma sleeted from the disintegrating wreck. The other platforms took the cover provided to begin opening fire, launching massed missile volleys in staggering numbers. Meanwhile, those drones that had survived the initial barrage swept forward to act as weapons themselves, along with reinforcements from the main fleet to the rear.
---------
The Pordish assault hammered the front lines, shredding cruisers with abandon as almost a quarter of the mustering force, twenty cruisers, was destroyed or otherwise damaged. On the flagship's bridge, Alhergus cursed as he watched his assault stagger and slow against the resistance. He hadn't anticipated the stiff defense, and breaking through that line was going to be hell against his fleet. Grimly, he bent his head over the display and issued new orders for his fleet.
The battered force of missile cruisers pulled back slightly as the remaining siege engines started accelerating at the limits of their engines, rapidly reaching blueshift speeds as they barreled forwards towards the miner's defenses. Unheeded, they'd simply smash through, and then break the planet open from the kinetic energy of the impact. At the same time, the main fleet began advancing as the long-range lances targeted the largest enemy ships and concentrated their fire against the ten or fifteen largest UDS and Pord ships.
With return fire incoming the frigates of the UDS fleet deployed the first wave of defence, sand missiles to detonate in the path of the AM beams headed right towards the carriers, the debris they spread would set the AM off prematurely before it could get to its target, these were the easiest to counter given the nature of AM and the missiles would keep firing as long as the AM was being fired. The other particle lances were a different story however with Meson screens they could be fended off somewhat but the odd beam still penetrated through this defence impacted the hull of its targets.
Rena's counter plan was simple, he would move all kinetic fire to the next siege engine that was moving in attack position and destroy it as he had done the first. The enemy fleet would remain a predominant issue with the counter fire now commencing but the main problem was the near light speed siege engines which began rapid acceleration towards the planet. Rena's main pint of attack against the enemy fleet was to redirect the fire from his heavy cruisers to use their hyper frequency lasers to target the enemy ships weapons systems that were currently firing against him. He saw the incoming siege engines as a ploy to use his mine field between him and the enemy fleet to open the way for them to begin a full on assault with their superior numbers. Instead he redirected the Bombers and fired the graviton torpedoes of his fleet to fire and detonate their munitions slightly away from the engines so that debris wouldn't be created from damages but to instead create a gravitc pull to bring the engines out of their current path and drift into space where they would hit someone else ten thousand years from now. As for the incoming drone swarms Rena deployed his own interceptors to counter them with the forward combat patrols movie to intercept first followed by several subsequent waves of several squadrons each which would engage at the front, break off and pursue the foe until they were whittled down to nothing.
Valyn stands from his seat and runs his fingers through his hair. In a sense, the opening of a battle is the most tiring phase - the uncertainty of what's to come; the exertion of preparation; the execution of actions (actions that set cosmic cogs in motion) - and as he feels his scalp and thinks on the muted hues of the once vibrant carpet growing on his head, he sinks into his chair and beats back a slight frown.
We are past that stage, the sensor operator says as he eyes him through the silence. Their lines are reforming.
Let them reform, Valyn nods. We just need to drive them out of the system. Give me a range reading.
Tasinehdao.
The requested information is sent to Valyn's command console and he reviews it. A colossal fountain of missile and then beam fire belches forth from the hostile fleet even as vast power signatures tell of the untimely demise of one of their number. Vast clouds of particle-energy balloon out along the distant edges of the Pordish defensive network as the lancefire destabilizes and diffuses against the flickering PAI fields of the fleet while point-defense fire and counter-missile swarms erupt to meet their hostile counterparts.
One of Pokyshak's cruisers comes under the heavy barrage and her entropic and kinetic-phasic barriers buckle from the onslaught. The vessel shudders as a turret is ripped free from its mounting and drifts off into space. On Pokyshak's bridge, an order comes through from Valyn. She passes it along to her boats and moments later the VRZ line responds with long range fire of its own. RPDCs and myriad missile types stream out towards the flank of the hostile fleet - targeting the largest ships first - while the black orbs embedded within the UDS formations fall silent.
The second siege engine shuddered as weapons fire cascaded against the hull, cracking through in places and sending gouts of fire rippling through gashes in the hull. Pulling aside, it continued to fire even as several missile launchers began to run dry from the prodigious rate of fire. Further back, its siblings followed suit, endeavoring to empty every last missile they had into the teeth of the UDS.
The main fleet, on the other hand, seeing that the antimatter beams were affecting nothing, began diverting more and more power to the particle lances. Just as one of the Apollo battleships pulled about to retarget its fire, the Pordish missiles ripped into its sides, overloading the shields in mere seconds and tearing deep into the superstructure beneath. Nor was it the only ship to suffer beneath Valyn's wrath, with three others of its brother perishing along with it and a half-dozen more injured in some way.
Reeling, the missile platforms suddenly parted to reveal almost two dozen Ares battleships, pushing hard as they opened fire with scores of fusion cannon batteries. From his bridge, Alhergus smirked slightly as he saw the gap between the battling fleets filled with searing orbs of light raining down against the Pords. Victory would be costly, but in truth, he didn't have to win here. He'd never really needed to drive the ships of the Greater Powers from the field, he merely required a...distraction. And as he turned his gaze to the planet sheltered beneath the defense satellites that had necessitated this entire debacle, he saw his answer arrive like the wrath of an almighty god.
--------------
Any organic crew that had been onboard the accelerating siege engines had died when they began ramping their speed up, pasted against the nearest wall. Despite that, the AI operating the platforms in their absence had been well programmed and held the course. At the velocity the engines were racing along, the UDS gravity well had virtually no perceptible effect on their trajectory, but it did slow the leading engine down enough that the high power laser fusillade from the defense grid was able to shear it apart with little effort.
This meant, though, that tumbling pieces of debris were suddenly flying through the orbital space of the world at speeds approaching that of light. Several laser batteries were shredded, but the automated defenses continued firing, killing first another, and then ultimately a third platform. Even as this was occurring, ever more of the corporate satellites were destroyed by debris or missiles, until the fourth engine sped through a gap in the defenses to impact the planet.
From the surface, the collision would've been a majestic sight, if it hadn't happened at nine tenths lightspeed. The blast was catastrophic, throwing hundreds of thousands of tons of crustal material into the air and even casting a cone of molten rock into low orbit. Every body of water within several thousand miles of the impact boiled, and on the other side of the planet, the shock waves caused mega-quakes and made volcanoes erupt.
Then the last engine hit.
If the first impact had been catastrophic, this one was world-ending. Straight on the heels of the last engine as it was, it punched even deeper, ripping through the mantle and into the planetary core. Beyond simply a compounding of the initial disaster, the effects wouldn't be apparent for years yet, but the imparted energy had been enough to alter the planet's orbit. The world had been murdered with the first blow. This was merely an insult to injury.
Rena paced around the central console of his CIC angrily as he looked at the devastation caused by the impromptu missiles. He swore under his breath as his ensigns called out reports of damages and losses from his fleet.
"Use the minefield and begin pulling out, tell the Pords of our action. We'll move the fleet full reverse to the edge of the system where we entered. Move all fighters back to cover their carriers and recall all bombers." Rena shouted, reigning in his anger and giving his order stoically. He was met with a wave of Aye, Ayes and Yessirs in response from his CIC crew.
The Missiles which had to this point been ignored roared to life as engines roared to life and they made their ways towards the closest ships of the HI Fleet, it was a cacophony of Sustained Fusion and Graviton warheads that would cover the retreating forces of the UDS. The rest of the fleet didn;t sit idly however with the decrease in range the secondary weapons were now in effective range with salvo after salvo of Dual Series 3000 Accelerators opened up alongside the just as powerful Meson Lasers. The Finer weapons of the fleet namely the Hyperfrequency Lasers continued their assault on weapons hardpoints. All together the UDS Fleet began a full reverse course as their fire continued.
Rena took a moment to step out of the hectic CIC, bracing himself as the ship rocked from the occasional tremor that accompanied the detonation of the HI ordinance. He went to his ready room to make a direct call to HICOM which was at this point still in disarray since the death of Sara Switch at Zaingraf. It was now a secretary who took the calls and the Fleet Admirals of the UDS Navy were the ones calling the shots, they voted on matters democratically with the majority rule passing. It wasn't a perfect system but it was working until they could find someone willing to take a position that had a high mortality rate. The secretary confirmed his transmission and noted the losses of his interception. For Now though Rena concentrated on the ongoing battle which he would hope come to an end once the Imperium forces saw that he was in full retreat and hoped the Pords would do the same.
Denizens of Happenstance
It happens almost in slow motion.
Pokyshak eyes the enemy movements as their positions are relayed to her bridge: each step they take closer to the world in question an affront to her initial plans and desire for immediate action. But there is little that she can do as the unfortunate reality materializes around her. Far removed from the point of action, she is dyklachon, one without initiative. She bolts from her command console with a furious clattering of swords and falling cups, and yells out across the bridge:
Valyn! Jlokhemitdamn you, Valyn! You've lost me this battle!
The bridge officers pay no heed to her aggression. Far more relevant matters are afoot as she yells in their background; the enemy - no longer slaved to hurling anti-matter lances - has elected to rotate entirely to more conventional particle beam types. Thus divorced from the privilege of antimatter's total annihilation (its greatest convenience when engaged against Valyn's PAI fields), the far less clean nature of the particle lances soaks the surrounding fabrics with diffusing and dispersing hadronic fog, far more than was present just moments ago, nearly compelling entire regions of the Array interdiction field into oversaturation.
PAI fields are not maintaining coherence, Pokyshak's sensory officer finally admits to the wing commander, we will have to adjust defensive algorithms if we wish to maintain current levels of defensive aptitude.
We- Pokyshak begins, only to be interrupted by the vessel lurching heavily.
Particle lance impacted a starboard ablation drive, the same sensory officer explains. And then, almost as if to further prove his point, the vessel lurches again. We have to adjust.
Pokyshak settles back into her chair. Very well, she says. We will adjust algorithms. Retrain batteries onto the nearest ships there, regardless of size, she orders, relay that to the wing. Array to Individual Battle stance; let the captains use that as they see fit.
Tasi! comes the reply; tasinehdao! it is echoed.
Her attention is taken by an updated packet of data beamed over from Valyn's flagship - amending her area of operations and expected mission profile - that are verified by new coordinate-waypoints that flicker to life on her central displays, which are (in turn) accompanied by a single-word line from Valyn: withdraw.
Withdraw, she seethes, I've got a good mind to go ahe-
Chor Valyn's hologram flickers to life before her, cutting her off for a second time in nearly as many minutes. He looks around, shakes his head, then leans back into his chair. The holograms of the other wing commanders fade into view only seconds after Valyn's arrival.
The UDS have decided to withdraw, Valyn says. His tone is flat and clashes with Pokyshak's mood. Given the circumstances, and the sum of enemies still effective against us, we have no choice other than to withdraw as well, he continues to explain. On the displays the various markers denoting the black orbs embedded within the UDS formation mirror their movements, stuck as they are within the interdiction field.
Pokyshak nods, as do the other Pords present.
Given the rather abrupt nature of this change in our strategy, I thought you would appreciate being given these orders in person, he goes on. Are there any questions concerning this order of business?
The runner commander - Häzhel Yalsat - and other cruiser commanders shake their heads: No. We have no questions.
Dismissed, Valyn says and rescinds his hologram.
Well, Pokyshak slumps into her chair, set course... For system edge.
Tasi.
Tasinehdao.
On ships all across the Imperial fleet, a ragged cheer could be heard coming up from the crews as they saw the UDS and Pordish fleets begin to withdraw from the fray. And, Alhergus mused, watching the crew on his own bridge, not a moment too soon. He winced as he saw the munitions from the impromptu minefield savage his flank, butchering seven carriers and half a dozen more cruisers.
As the enemy pulled out of effective weapons range, he surveyed his losses. He'd arrived with just over a hundred and fifty ships, and built ten siege engines. Now, at the end of the battle, he'd lost all but two engines, and almost a third of his fleet. Hopefully, if the bastard would bugger off, he could build a makeshift yard and make good his losses. Turning aside from the display, he was about to retire to his quarters to see to the necessary arrangements and logistical needs when his comm pinged.
Hesitating, and knowing what the communication likely was, the former Imperator sighed, then tapped his comm. And as the message expanded, rotating to display its full content, he knew that he'd been right. The spineless cowards in Zaoth had abandoned the cause and even gone so far as to order him to withdraw. And for a moment, looking out the viewport at the wreckage of his ships and the world he'd killed, he considered it.
A flicker of shadows at the corner of his eye drew his gaze, as a soft voice murmured Why should you listen to them? They have not the will to see the task done...
Alhergus' face hardened and he squared his shoulders. Star Above, he had the will, and more, he had the means. He'd scour every star in the core region clean of life if needed…
“Admiral?” One of the ensigns called from communications.
“Yes?” He replied back putting his thought to the side
“Pords are confirmed to be retreating from the system too.” The ensign said cheerily
“Good, tell them we’ll meet back at Fort Denison and we’ll tend to their damages and wounded personnel there.” He retorted back stoically
With Imperium forces letting up their pursuit of his retreating forces, Rena finally gave the order to silence the guns. They were far from effective range and both he and the Imperium would know that. He looked over his subordinates as they attended their stations. Navigation was busy hurriedly plotting a Close Space jump back to friendly territory, while Damage control was shouting through their headsets to keep the ship together, Squadron command was confirming the landing of the last flight of strike craft had landed. Rena simply stood in the middle as it happened. It was a loss today of catastrophic proportions and the fate of those left would be indiscernible. He wouldn’t let this lie though and was already making plans to keep an eye on the Imperium forces in the system.
Deep down, Valyn understands he miscalculated. It is a very major thing, one necessarily to be accompanied by ramifications in the coming days and weeks. He rubs his forehead and settles into his chair before thinking better of his. He stands and heads for the door. He queues his communicator and says to his aide, Ready a strong tumbler of nog, then shuts the door to the command room behind him.
Repairs will be made and casualties accounted for, but those are some time off. The nog is now, and so Valyn focuses his mind on the cool textures and pleasant aroma...