Post by andromeda on Feb 22, 2023 17:48:11 GMT
CIC of Starfort Ophidian, Davos System
Starfort Ophidian was a reasonably defended centre overall. It was a massive space station that orbited the main Star of Davas and acted as both a centre of UDS operations in the region but also as a shipyard/economic zone of sorts. Now however, the starfort would be tested as enemies encroach upon it after a victory over their once-overlords. With that happening, the entire station was plunged into chaos. Though many wanted to evacuate immediately, cooler heads prevailed and stated the reasons why- they were trapped here.
With the situation dire, the military took control of the starfort and all major commanders soon gathered in the CIC to discuss their plans of action.
The atmosphere in the room was one of grim anticipation. Officers and servicemen walked in and out to relay information and news to their comrades. Workers sitting at hardlight computers cursed and talked under their breath as they worked. Occasionally, they casted glances at the group of gathered commanders who sat around a table displaying a holomap of the star system.
At the head of the table sat an aged man who looked to be in his fifties. He was bald yet chose to wore a groomed moustache. This was Rear Admiral Pyxis, the commander of Starfort Ophidian and now the garrison forces. He gave a weary sigh as he looked at his officers, “I’ll be blunt. We’re stuck here. The snakes have us trapped in this star system- if we try to leave our forces will be intercepted and forced into an unfavourable battle. Therefore, our best chance of survival is to hold out in this star system until two things happen- reinforcements arrive from the nation to relieve us or we fight off the enemy to the point where they can no longer intercept us. Either way… we have lost this battle and the victory only lies in retreat.”
His words send the room into silence once more. His second in command, Commander Uxbridge, a rather shrewd looking man, looked down and cursed, “damn it… if only we gave Calbraith more ships…”
Commodore Calbraith was in charge of the garrison forces and when the order came to subdue the Selenican uprising, he was dispatched with a little over forty ships. That proved to be his downfall as his force was ambushed and defeated, with the commodore himself not surviving the ensuing battle. His force, now with less than half, ended up retreating back to Davos where the bad news was relayed. Now the UDS found themselves stuck in the star system while their enemies made their approach…
“We can regret later,” Pyxis affirmed as he laid his hands on the table, activating the map to provide a 3-dimensional image of the system, “now we just plan our defences,” quickly, several important assets in the system were highlighted.
“Firstly, we have the garrison; fifty ships in all remain of it though we have an even spread overall. Commander Uxbridge, you will be in charge of garrison forces,” the garrison was highlighted. Though it mostly consisted of carrier types, there were more than a few gunships ready for direct combat, “use the fighters carefully- do not repeat Calbraith’s mistake. Though we have a lot of them,” Uxbridge nodded his head as he took in his forces. Already, he was making plans on how to use the many gunships they had.
“Next, the base itself possess two hangars with two wings each. Commander Posonby, you will take charge of them. Use them all wisely and don’t be afraid to relegate them to purely defensive means,” Pyxis ordered a stern looking woman with blonde hair. She simply nodded. The hangars were located closest to the starfort where the pilots were able to control them.
“We must also take into account our defence platforms,” Pyxis began, “as we all know, they are scattered throughout the star system but they have incredibly range. If we plan our defences right, then we could have their fields of fire overlap to strike at them precisely- regardless, they will either play a role in the fight or not one at all. Captain Maitland shall stay here with me to command them all.”
The rough gentleman with a lightly scarred face simply saluted in response. Maitland soon began to do the mental calculations needed for the firing solutions of the main weapons of the defence platforms; long range missiles, tachyon lances, and spinal railguns.
“And finally, the monitor stations,” Pyxis looked at the youngest commander in the room, “Captain Wellesley, you will take command of them. We have six monitors in total. Use them wisely,” the destroyer-sized vessels had no FTL drives, but made up for it by having far more firepower than the Dainsleif class. The captain nodded his head and hide his fear well.
“I will oversee the operation from here,” the rear admiral spoke, “I will command both the on board starfort defences as well as the overall battle. If I give you an order you will follow it. If I am compromised in any manner then Commodore Uxbridge shall take command. Am I understood?”
Starfort Ophidian was a reasonably defended centre overall. It was a massive space station that orbited the main Star of Davas and acted as both a centre of UDS operations in the region but also as a shipyard/economic zone of sorts. Now however, the starfort would be tested as enemies encroach upon it after a victory over their once-overlords. With that happening, the entire station was plunged into chaos. Though many wanted to evacuate immediately, cooler heads prevailed and stated the reasons why- they were trapped here.
With the situation dire, the military took control of the starfort and all major commanders soon gathered in the CIC to discuss their plans of action.
The atmosphere in the room was one of grim anticipation. Officers and servicemen walked in and out to relay information and news to their comrades. Workers sitting at hardlight computers cursed and talked under their breath as they worked. Occasionally, they casted glances at the group of gathered commanders who sat around a table displaying a holomap of the star system.
At the head of the table sat an aged man who looked to be in his fifties. He was bald yet chose to wore a groomed moustache. This was Rear Admiral Pyxis, the commander of Starfort Ophidian and now the garrison forces. He gave a weary sigh as he looked at his officers, “I’ll be blunt. We’re stuck here. The snakes have us trapped in this star system- if we try to leave our forces will be intercepted and forced into an unfavourable battle. Therefore, our best chance of survival is to hold out in this star system until two things happen- reinforcements arrive from the nation to relieve us or we fight off the enemy to the point where they can no longer intercept us. Either way… we have lost this battle and the victory only lies in retreat.”
His words send the room into silence once more. His second in command, Commander Uxbridge, a rather shrewd looking man, looked down and cursed, “damn it… if only we gave Calbraith more ships…”
Commodore Calbraith was in charge of the garrison forces and when the order came to subdue the Selenican uprising, he was dispatched with a little over forty ships. That proved to be his downfall as his force was ambushed and defeated, with the commodore himself not surviving the ensuing battle. His force, now with less than half, ended up retreating back to Davos where the bad news was relayed. Now the UDS found themselves stuck in the star system while their enemies made their approach…
“We can regret later,” Pyxis affirmed as he laid his hands on the table, activating the map to provide a 3-dimensional image of the system, “now we just plan our defences,” quickly, several important assets in the system were highlighted.
“Firstly, we have the garrison; fifty ships in all remain of it though we have an even spread overall. Commander Uxbridge, you will be in charge of garrison forces,” the garrison was highlighted. Though it mostly consisted of carrier types, there were more than a few gunships ready for direct combat, “use the fighters carefully- do not repeat Calbraith’s mistake. Though we have a lot of them,” Uxbridge nodded his head as he took in his forces. Already, he was making plans on how to use the many gunships they had.
“Next, the base itself possess two hangars with two wings each. Commander Posonby, you will take charge of them. Use them all wisely and don’t be afraid to relegate them to purely defensive means,” Pyxis ordered a stern looking woman with blonde hair. She simply nodded. The hangars were located closest to the starfort where the pilots were able to control them.
“We must also take into account our defence platforms,” Pyxis began, “as we all know, they are scattered throughout the star system but they have incredibly range. If we plan our defences right, then we could have their fields of fire overlap to strike at them precisely- regardless, they will either play a role in the fight or not one at all. Captain Maitland shall stay here with me to command them all.”
The rough gentleman with a lightly scarred face simply saluted in response. Maitland soon began to do the mental calculations needed for the firing solutions of the main weapons of the defence platforms; long range missiles, tachyon lances, and spinal railguns.
“And finally, the monitor stations,” Pyxis looked at the youngest commander in the room, “Captain Wellesley, you will take command of them. We have six monitors in total. Use them wisely,” the destroyer-sized vessels had no FTL drives, but made up for it by having far more firepower than the Dainsleif class. The captain nodded his head and hide his fear well.
“I will oversee the operation from here,” the rear admiral spoke, “I will command both the on board starfort defences as well as the overall battle. If I give you an order you will follow it. If I am compromised in any manner then Commodore Uxbridge shall take command. Am I understood?”
The chorus rang out clear as Pyxis stood up and nodded, “very well. Dismissed and get to your duties. We have a battle to win and a starfort to evacuate.”
Anxios System Outskirts
It had been a glorious victory over the colonialist's fleet, and the butchering of much of the fleet which had arrived to seize control over Anxios, the time for action was now. No time could be wasted for repairs or refits, it was now or never. The Selenican losses, harsh as they would be, would have to be mourned at a different time. One of the disabled Selencian battleships limped back to its dock for repairs over the course of the coming weeks, and an assault force of the UDS's source of corruption in the SR would need to be assembled. A knife must be driven through the heart of the beast, lest it never truly die. However, far too many ships of the Selenican Republic were not in commission quite yet, and even if they were, they would not be of fighting condition. Thus, a largeportion of the Selenican's fleet not stationed elsewhere or in dock would be able to be sent. However, despite the resounding victory against them, leaving Anxios undefended would be a stupid idea, thus, the already sectioned fleet of the Selenicans was again split, to the point only a fleet of 47 would be sent. Though, as a part of this fleet were the greatest vessels available to the Selenican Republic. One of their new battleships, the Yezera'kle-Class, five of their old yet reliable Farinsa-Class carriers, ten cruisers of the Triza-Class, fifteen destroyers of the Yanzana-Class, ten frigates, five of the K-1 Class and five of the RANGSI-purchased Type A-Class, and six corvettes of the Recconoiter-Class, purchased from the Kel'Thulians. These ships were assembled into a general spearhead formation with the battleship at the front, and they launched their pursuit to the Davos System. This fleet, called in the media "The Selenican People's Liberation Fleet," was under the leadership of one Admiral Rizer, whom had been the admiral aboard one of the ships in orbit of Anxios on that fateful day. He had volunteered for this fleet appointment for redemption's sake.
FTL drives were engaged, and the Selenican fleet jumped over to the Davos system, only one target in their sights - Starfort Ophidian.
Davos System Outskirts
As part of the construction of the starfort, the Selenicans knew intimately of what kinds of defenses the system had, though it seems the UDS had further fortified the place since a major Selenican expedition here arrived. However, there was no time to admire the impressive stellar architecture.
Sublight thrusters began to fire at once, cranking up to their maximum speed settings, the massive spearhead of the Selenican forcing puncturing the outskirts of the system. However, lessons were dispersed quickly since the last engagement, and the spearhead began to spread out into smaller battlegroups. The battleship had a group paired with a carrier, 4 cruisers, 5 destroyers, 3 Type A frigates and 1 K-1 frigate, and 2 corvettes. The remaining ships were divvied equally among the other 2 battle groups, 2 carriers to each group and an equal amount of ships of all classes.
"Admiral?" a voice would call from just outside the bridge. Klesjka, whom had recently arrived back in the Selenican Republic following his stellar performance with the Columen Artificialis, had been brought on the battleship in case negotiations could be forced here. "Are we positive the Columen forces will arrive to assist us?"
"We enacted upon our official alliance just after declaring independence, they'd be betraying us not to come. And, you should know, Lilian is unlikely to betray us." Rizer would reply, stroking his long mouth.
"Battlegroup One, your goal is to push on the starfort and pummel it from range. Battlegroup Two, your goal is to spread out and catch any bastard trying to get out of the system, focus your fire on one ship at a time to annihilate them. My group will link up with CA forces and operate together."
A resounding "Aye, sir!" is heard across the fleet as each battlegroup began their missions.
It had been a glorious victory over the colonialist's fleet, and the butchering of much of the fleet which had arrived to seize control over Anxios, the time for action was now. No time could be wasted for repairs or refits, it was now or never. The Selenican losses, harsh as they would be, would have to be mourned at a different time. One of the disabled Selencian battleships limped back to its dock for repairs over the course of the coming weeks, and an assault force of the UDS's source of corruption in the SR would need to be assembled. A knife must be driven through the heart of the beast, lest it never truly die. However, far too many ships of the Selenican Republic were not in commission quite yet, and even if they were, they would not be of fighting condition. Thus, a largeportion of the Selenican's fleet not stationed elsewhere or in dock would be able to be sent. However, despite the resounding victory against them, leaving Anxios undefended would be a stupid idea, thus, the already sectioned fleet of the Selenicans was again split, to the point only a fleet of 47 would be sent. Though, as a part of this fleet were the greatest vessels available to the Selenican Republic. One of their new battleships, the Yezera'kle-Class, five of their old yet reliable Farinsa-Class carriers, ten cruisers of the Triza-Class, fifteen destroyers of the Yanzana-Class, ten frigates, five of the K-1 Class and five of the RANGSI-purchased Type A-Class, and six corvettes of the Recconoiter-Class, purchased from the Kel'Thulians. These ships were assembled into a general spearhead formation with the battleship at the front, and they launched their pursuit to the Davos System. This fleet, called in the media "The Selenican People's Liberation Fleet," was under the leadership of one Admiral Rizer, whom had been the admiral aboard one of the ships in orbit of Anxios on that fateful day. He had volunteered for this fleet appointment for redemption's sake.
FTL drives were engaged, and the Selenican fleet jumped over to the Davos system, only one target in their sights - Starfort Ophidian.
Davos System Outskirts
As part of the construction of the starfort, the Selenicans knew intimately of what kinds of defenses the system had, though it seems the UDS had further fortified the place since a major Selenican expedition here arrived. However, there was no time to admire the impressive stellar architecture.
Sublight thrusters began to fire at once, cranking up to their maximum speed settings, the massive spearhead of the Selenican forcing puncturing the outskirts of the system. However, lessons were dispersed quickly since the last engagement, and the spearhead began to spread out into smaller battlegroups. The battleship had a group paired with a carrier, 4 cruisers, 5 destroyers, 3 Type A frigates and 1 K-1 frigate, and 2 corvettes. The remaining ships were divvied equally among the other 2 battle groups, 2 carriers to each group and an equal amount of ships of all classes.
"Admiral?" a voice would call from just outside the bridge. Klesjka, whom had recently arrived back in the Selenican Republic following his stellar performance with the Columen Artificialis, had been brought on the battleship in case negotiations could be forced here. "Are we positive the Columen forces will arrive to assist us?"
"We enacted upon our official alliance just after declaring independence, they'd be betraying us not to come. And, you should know, Lilian is unlikely to betray us." Rizer would reply, stroking his long mouth.
"Battlegroup One, your goal is to push on the starfort and pummel it from range. Battlegroup Two, your goal is to spread out and catch any bastard trying to get out of the system, focus your fire on one ship at a time to annihilate them. My group will link up with CA forces and operate together."
A resounding "Aye, sir!" is heard across the fleet as each battlegroup began their missions.
Interstellar Space
Lillian stood in the middle of a big room, holograms all around her, streaming data of all her ships into her eyes and mind, tapping to different holographic screens each time, seeming somewhat random, and yet all calculated. She quickly started clearing holograms, until the room was clear, and she could see her ships, standing still within the between spaces, close to getting to the battlegound.
She had received the declaration of independence right as they announced it, having all her ships prepared for the momentous occasion. 1 Ignus Petram, the CSAF Augustine, 1 Magnus Venator, the CSAF Jeanne d'Arc, 7 Vitrum Basillic and 3 Speculator. All were in top shape, and ready to go.
Augustine would suddenly flash, a sphere of space-time itself appearing before all the ships, on the other side, Selenican ships could be seen. Lillian's ships would begin to flow in quickly, with Augustine coming in last, and the wormhole collapsing.
Davos System Outskirts
The fleet of ships would look like holes in space, their black only being interrupted by streaks of glowing cobalt blue, breaking the holes of black. The color of the ships would pulse, with white coming in like a wave, exposing the ships to open space.
Lillian observed the ships, and looked at a screen.
"Gladius, scan the system with both Augustine and Jeanne d'Arc for defences, enemy ships and Selenican ships. Get me a signal through to the Selenican flagship, I need to establish a comm line so we can do this without fucking up their plans."
Gladius would quickly begin to scan the system, picking up on major fleets and defenses with both ships. All the ships would get closer to Selenican ships, sending a hailing signal through, and eventually a channel.
"Why hello there my dear Selenican friends! I have heard of your great victory, and I have now finally arrived to assist. I hope I'm not to late, eh?"
"I have brought what I deem necessary. I require info on what you wish me to do, I do not wish to hold up your plans."
The 3 Speculator would stay behind the ships, making a formation that reduced they surface area against attacks. The 7 Vitrum Basillic would stay in 7 points around Jeanne d'Arc, and Augustine, the biggest ship in the fleet, even bigger than some Selenican ships, would be at the front, all weapons armed.
"I am locked and loaded, all weapons armed, just tell me directions, and I shall follow them like your command. How do they say...? Ah yes, Viva la Revolución!"
Lillian stood in the middle of a big room, holograms all around her, streaming data of all her ships into her eyes and mind, tapping to different holographic screens each time, seeming somewhat random, and yet all calculated. She quickly started clearing holograms, until the room was clear, and she could see her ships, standing still within the between spaces, close to getting to the battlegound.
She had received the declaration of independence right as they announced it, having all her ships prepared for the momentous occasion. 1 Ignus Petram, the CSAF Augustine, 1 Magnus Venator, the CSAF Jeanne d'Arc, 7 Vitrum Basillic and 3 Speculator. All were in top shape, and ready to go.
Augustine would suddenly flash, a sphere of space-time itself appearing before all the ships, on the other side, Selenican ships could be seen. Lillian's ships would begin to flow in quickly, with Augustine coming in last, and the wormhole collapsing.
Davos System Outskirts
The fleet of ships would look like holes in space, their black only being interrupted by streaks of glowing cobalt blue, breaking the holes of black. The color of the ships would pulse, with white coming in like a wave, exposing the ships to open space.
Lillian observed the ships, and looked at a screen.
"Gladius, scan the system with both Augustine and Jeanne d'Arc for defences, enemy ships and Selenican ships. Get me a signal through to the Selenican flagship, I need to establish a comm line so we can do this without fucking up their plans."
Gladius would quickly begin to scan the system, picking up on major fleets and defenses with both ships. All the ships would get closer to Selenican ships, sending a hailing signal through, and eventually a channel.
"Why hello there my dear Selenican friends! I have heard of your great victory, and I have now finally arrived to assist. I hope I'm not to late, eh?"
"I have brought what I deem necessary. I require info on what you wish me to do, I do not wish to hold up your plans."
The 3 Speculator would stay behind the ships, making a formation that reduced they surface area against attacks. The 7 Vitrum Basillic would stay in 7 points around Jeanne d'Arc, and Augustine, the biggest ship in the fleet, even bigger than some Selenican ships, would be at the front, all weapons armed.
"I am locked and loaded, all weapons armed, just tell me directions, and I shall follow them like your command. How do they say...? Ah yes, Viva la Revolución!"
CIC of Starfort Ophidian
Pyxis stared at the screen that displayed the enemy forces arrayed out in neat formations. One of the things he was able to note however was that there were several unknown ships as well. Had the Selenicans made an alliance with some foreign power? That was possible. Judging from the estimated sizes of the foreign ships and the distinctive look, there was a chance they could be of superior make. Regardless, he wasn’t too keen on finding out how capable they were.
Quietly he began to relay orders to Commodore Uxbridge, “array the carrier-based ships in defensive formations around the starfort. We will prioritise defence over offence. Have our brawlers prepare for a counter-offensive, however- we need to be prepared to intercept the enemy should they make a move. I want a defensive screen of drones for missiles.”
The rear admiral stroked his chin as he stared hard at the two largest ships of each fleet. Then he made his choice, “designate targets S-1 and U-1,” he referred to the clearly Selenican ship as S-1 and the unknown one as U-1, “Commodore Uxbridge, a single volley of ship-based tachyon arrows at U-1. We need to test how strong it is. Captain Maitland, fire a tachyon lance and a single volley of missiles at S-1. We must aim to take out their flagships while we can.”
Hopefully, this alpha strike would have some effectiveness against the enemy. If they were lucky then this would disable their capital ships. If not, then they can gauge the damage done and plan further ahead, “Commander Posonby, stay your wings for now. Captain Wellesley, have three of your monitors join the brawler group. Uxbridge, prepare the brawlers for interception.”
There were a total fo fifty ships in the UDS garrison and it was divided into two forces- the carriers and the brawlers. The former consisted of battleships, carriers, and cruisers. The latter consisted of a dreadnought, battlecruisers, destroyers, frigates, and monitors. This made a terrible force for even some of the UDS’ old enemies. Counting the other defences in the system, this truly was a tough nut to crack. Would the allied forces be enough?
The flagship of the UDS garrison was the Mjölnir-class dreadnought SSV Yellow Submarine. It was currently commanded by Uxbridge and was the flagship of the brawler force. However, even before it followed its orders to move along with the rest of the fleet, it was already preparing to fire its arrows alongside the rest of the battlecruisers, battleships, and cruisers there. The thirty arrows that lined the dreadnought’s structure whirred to take aim at its as-of-yet-unknown counterpart. And then, it fired, steaks of rainbow light flying at lightspeed flew towards the void of space and soon were joined by the dozens of other arrows fired by the rest of the fleet all towards the Augustine.
Even as the first shots of the battle were fired, hundreds of drones gunships meant to act as a defensive screen were being released. It would take time for them to fully be in formation but by then, they would have formed a tight screen against missiles that should protect the carrier-based ships there.
Far off into the distance, a single tachyon lance suddenly lit up as it fired a single yet devastating barrage right towards the Yezera'kle-class battleship.
Pyxis stared at the screen that displayed the enemy forces arrayed out in neat formations. One of the things he was able to note however was that there were several unknown ships as well. Had the Selenicans made an alliance with some foreign power? That was possible. Judging from the estimated sizes of the foreign ships and the distinctive look, there was a chance they could be of superior make. Regardless, he wasn’t too keen on finding out how capable they were.
Quietly he began to relay orders to Commodore Uxbridge, “array the carrier-based ships in defensive formations around the starfort. We will prioritise defence over offence. Have our brawlers prepare for a counter-offensive, however- we need to be prepared to intercept the enemy should they make a move. I want a defensive screen of drones for missiles.”
The rear admiral stroked his chin as he stared hard at the two largest ships of each fleet. Then he made his choice, “designate targets S-1 and U-1,” he referred to the clearly Selenican ship as S-1 and the unknown one as U-1, “Commodore Uxbridge, a single volley of ship-based tachyon arrows at U-1. We need to test how strong it is. Captain Maitland, fire a tachyon lance and a single volley of missiles at S-1. We must aim to take out their flagships while we can.”
Hopefully, this alpha strike would have some effectiveness against the enemy. If they were lucky then this would disable their capital ships. If not, then they can gauge the damage done and plan further ahead, “Commander Posonby, stay your wings for now. Captain Wellesley, have three of your monitors join the brawler group. Uxbridge, prepare the brawlers for interception.”
There were a total fo fifty ships in the UDS garrison and it was divided into two forces- the carriers and the brawlers. The former consisted of battleships, carriers, and cruisers. The latter consisted of a dreadnought, battlecruisers, destroyers, frigates, and monitors. This made a terrible force for even some of the UDS’ old enemies. Counting the other defences in the system, this truly was a tough nut to crack. Would the allied forces be enough?
The flagship of the UDS garrison was the Mjölnir-class dreadnought SSV Yellow Submarine. It was currently commanded by Uxbridge and was the flagship of the brawler force. However, even before it followed its orders to move along with the rest of the fleet, it was already preparing to fire its arrows alongside the rest of the battlecruisers, battleships, and cruisers there. The thirty arrows that lined the dreadnought’s structure whirred to take aim at its as-of-yet-unknown counterpart. And then, it fired, steaks of rainbow light flying at lightspeed flew towards the void of space and soon were joined by the dozens of other arrows fired by the rest of the fleet all towards the Augustine.
Even as the first shots of the battle were fired, hundreds of drones gunships meant to act as a defensive screen were being released. It would take time for them to fully be in formation but by then, they would have formed a tight screen against missiles that should protect the carrier-based ships there.
Far off into the distance, a single tachyon lance suddenly lit up as it fired a single yet devastating barrage right towards the Yezera'kle-class battleship.
Davos System - Selenican Fleet
“Lilian! Am I glad to see you here!” Klesjka exclaimed, happy and relieved that their ally did not abandon the Selenican Republic over a secured communications channel.
“Hm, good to see!” Rizer would say, equally glad. “For now, our plans are as such – our main force, including this battleship, will link up with you and form a breaching head into the System’s forces. One of our other battlegroups, carriers included, will form a support group of our two primary fighting forces, serving as a defense against any attacks from our sides or rear. The third group will disperse around the system, to catch any stragglers attempting to enter or exit the system with their interdiction fields running at full strength.”
The time for this chat would be short, however, as UDS tachyon lances were let loose onto the Selenican and Columen fleets, and action would need to be swift in order to suffer little damage.
“Tachyon-type energy detected!” a bridge crew would shout over Rizer’s communications to Lilian.
“Dammit, already?” the admiral would say, cutting the communication short. “Start thrusters burning as soon as possible, if you can’t get out of the way, power the tachyonic shields! Do we have a course for it?”
“Sir, it’s aimed right for us.” the crew member would reply. “If we intercept it, it’ll flashbang the enemy sensors.”
“In that case, keep shields down until we determine when it’ll get within their range, then we activate!”
“Aye sir!”
The Selenican battleship and all other vessels painted in red and white would cut their thrusters to maximum when the lances were seen, and the plan for battle would begin. One of the battlegroups would cut to the edges of the system as soon as possible, its carriers and other heavy vessels staying behind to help in the fight itself. Both other battle groups would begin their push to the Columen vessels, readying their point defenses and shields in order to help with the onslaught of UDS tachyons.
“Carriers, get your fighters out here as soon as possible, I don’t want to risk the UDS getting their damn missiles through if they have ‘em!” Rizer would shout through to the Selenican carriers, replied with varying levels of affirmation and the beginning of the stream of fighter intercept groups surrounding the formations.
“Lilian, we need to collaborate if we’re gonna win this.” Klesjka would say over a transmission to the Columen vessels, through an encrypted channel. “As such, we NEED your planning and ideas.”
In response to the early shots on their forces by the UDS, the Selenican ships, those primarily armed with tachyons, and even the RANGSI frigates with their plasma-sheathed railguns and the Reconnoiters with their particle lances would turn their weapons at the UDS and fire, and fire, and fire. Three volleys, coordinated to hit slightly different places, to cover any maneuver the UDS could do, all with the rage and motivation of thousands of souls behind them, fighting for freedom.
“Lilian! Am I glad to see you here!” Klesjka exclaimed, happy and relieved that their ally did not abandon the Selenican Republic over a secured communications channel.
“Hm, good to see!” Rizer would say, equally glad. “For now, our plans are as such – our main force, including this battleship, will link up with you and form a breaching head into the System’s forces. One of our other battlegroups, carriers included, will form a support group of our two primary fighting forces, serving as a defense against any attacks from our sides or rear. The third group will disperse around the system, to catch any stragglers attempting to enter or exit the system with their interdiction fields running at full strength.”
The time for this chat would be short, however, as UDS tachyon lances were let loose onto the Selenican and Columen fleets, and action would need to be swift in order to suffer little damage.
“Tachyon-type energy detected!” a bridge crew would shout over Rizer’s communications to Lilian.
“Dammit, already?” the admiral would say, cutting the communication short. “Start thrusters burning as soon as possible, if you can’t get out of the way, power the tachyonic shields! Do we have a course for it?”
“Sir, it’s aimed right for us.” the crew member would reply. “If we intercept it, it’ll flashbang the enemy sensors.”
“In that case, keep shields down until we determine when it’ll get within their range, then we activate!”
“Aye sir!”
The Selenican battleship and all other vessels painted in red and white would cut their thrusters to maximum when the lances were seen, and the plan for battle would begin. One of the battlegroups would cut to the edges of the system as soon as possible, its carriers and other heavy vessels staying behind to help in the fight itself. Both other battle groups would begin their push to the Columen vessels, readying their point defenses and shields in order to help with the onslaught of UDS tachyons.
“Carriers, get your fighters out here as soon as possible, I don’t want to risk the UDS getting their damn missiles through if they have ‘em!” Rizer would shout through to the Selenican carriers, replied with varying levels of affirmation and the beginning of the stream of fighter intercept groups surrounding the formations.
“Lilian, we need to collaborate if we’re gonna win this.” Klesjka would say over a transmission to the Columen vessels, through an encrypted channel. “As such, we NEED your planning and ideas.”
In response to the early shots on their forces by the UDS, the Selenican ships, those primarily armed with tachyons, and even the RANGSI frigates with their plasma-sheathed railguns and the Reconnoiters with their particle lances would turn their weapons at the UDS and fire, and fire, and fire. Three volleys, coordinated to hit slightly different places, to cover any maneuver the UDS could do, all with the rage and motivation of thousands of souls behind them, fighting for freedom.
Lillian smiled at Klesjka's voice, being happy to see one of her Selenicam friends join her in this clash.
"Oh? Hello there Klesjka! You're a nice surprise to see."
Lillian payed close attention to the plan laid out before her. She would quickly signal Gladius to move the three Speculator and two Vitrum Basillic out to the second battle group, where they would fit nicely for the plan, leaving the rest of the ships in their joint formation. She quickly got tachyonic anomaly alerts from where she supposed the base was. This was confirmed by the Selenicans, to which she would confirm the detection. She still hadn't developed full tachyonic shielding, with the closest thing she could use was extremely dense particulate, bit the mention of flashbanging the enemy sensors piqued her interest.
"While I haven't fully developed tachyonic shielding, it seems you have it covered. I will stick Jeanne d'Arc and the other Destroyers behind your shielding, the Augustine will stay parallel to you, I trust her shielding to tank the hit."
She received a notification from her main ships, a scan of the system had been fully mapped out. She could detect what seemed to be a blob of something covering what seemed to be ships. She reasoned these were probably a defensive layer of either particulate or drones, and so, with the Selenicans asking for help with a plan, she spoke up.
"I have gotten a system scan, it seems that our friends over there are becoming entrenched, covering themselves with I can only guess drones to defend against ongoing long range attacks. We must get closer if we wish to cause some real damage, at this range missiles will take too long and probably be destroyed before hitting a ship. Have a section of ships on our sides, reduce your net surface area to get hit as least as possible. Our two side wings will try and bunch up the enemy ships, pile them up so we can concentrate fire."
"We will need to punch several holes through what I can only guess is drones, with their movement patterns, but at such a range I can't fully make clear what they are. Whatever it is, get your point defense and fighters ready as they can ever be, we make that hole, we get out gateway to the second phase. Once we get a line of sight, you empty your full weapon capacity on the smaller ships, Augustine can act as a bullhead to distract the enemy fleet and concentrate fire on her. She has enough weaponry and armor to take a beating and still come out on top. I will handle the big guns, you along with Jeanne D'Arc and the other ships will take care of the more agile ships and prevent ourselves from getting flanked. I will keep the other three ships as artillery, if you need help, ping it and the enemy vessel, and you will get a strike on the other ship."
She would pause for a few seconds, giving herself enough time to think through her plans, and give way to something she wanted to say to the Selenicans before they went through with the plan. She would remotely access the Selenican fleet ships Intercomms, with great ease, but causing a few alarms to go off.
"I'm sorry Admiral for the inconvenience, but I wish to tell you all something before we go into battle."
She took a deep, thoughtful breath, tranquility and peace going through her mind, transitioning into determination and will.
"Selenicans, for those of you who might not know, I am Lillian. I have been called forth to aid you in your hour of need. I might not be a native to the galaxy, and you have plenty of reason to judge me for it, for you have suffered much due to the UDS, a colonial power trying to get rid of one of the things that every sentient being deserves: freedom. For far too long, the UDS has put themselves over you, stepped on your rights, your freedoms, your will as a nation. They have tried to assimilate you against your will, they have done decisions not for your gain, but for their own."
On the outside, all of Lillians ships would glow like stars, a brilliant blue glimmering in the sky for any who saw it. Her ships would fire their TPPAs at the wall of drones, the kinetics going at a large percentage of the speed of light. The lights on the ships would glow every time she fired.
"You have been repressed, beaten, attacked and belittled for the simple fact of being born after them, for not having the same extension technologically and territorially. But to that we say: No more! No more colonial influence on your OWN decisions, no more attacks on your LIBERTIES, no more UDS on your own land!"
Another flash of light went off, another barrage.
"Today shall be a bloody day, we all know that. There will be heavy losses, both for us and for them. But, remember what you fight for, for who you fight for, remember everything your life has led up to, remember every moment these people have done to wrong you. Channel that hope, that anger, that search for true freedom in every decision you make. Make it your ally! We fight so that our future may be bright, we fight for FREEDOM! Remember, the result of a battle is not determined by sheer military might alone, nor is it determined by sheer planning alone. The result of the battle is the only truth! And our truth is liberty! ONE FORCE, FOR THE FUTURE!"
A third wall was fired, with the glimmer finally dying down.
The sheer passion in Lillians voice could be heard by everyone, her words reverberating through the halls of the Selenican ships. She hoped her fiery passion would stick with the Selenicans, wanting to give them a morale boost. She would return the intercomms to Selenican control, and back to the official channel between them.
"Gladius, full speed ahead!"
"Oh? Hello there Klesjka! You're a nice surprise to see."
Lillian payed close attention to the plan laid out before her. She would quickly signal Gladius to move the three Speculator and two Vitrum Basillic out to the second battle group, where they would fit nicely for the plan, leaving the rest of the ships in their joint formation. She quickly got tachyonic anomaly alerts from where she supposed the base was. This was confirmed by the Selenicans, to which she would confirm the detection. She still hadn't developed full tachyonic shielding, with the closest thing she could use was extremely dense particulate, bit the mention of flashbanging the enemy sensors piqued her interest.
"While I haven't fully developed tachyonic shielding, it seems you have it covered. I will stick Jeanne d'Arc and the other Destroyers behind your shielding, the Augustine will stay parallel to you, I trust her shielding to tank the hit."
She received a notification from her main ships, a scan of the system had been fully mapped out. She could detect what seemed to be a blob of something covering what seemed to be ships. She reasoned these were probably a defensive layer of either particulate or drones, and so, with the Selenicans asking for help with a plan, she spoke up.
"I have gotten a system scan, it seems that our friends over there are becoming entrenched, covering themselves with I can only guess drones to defend against ongoing long range attacks. We must get closer if we wish to cause some real damage, at this range missiles will take too long and probably be destroyed before hitting a ship. Have a section of ships on our sides, reduce your net surface area to get hit as least as possible. Our two side wings will try and bunch up the enemy ships, pile them up so we can concentrate fire."
"We will need to punch several holes through what I can only guess is drones, with their movement patterns, but at such a range I can't fully make clear what they are. Whatever it is, get your point defense and fighters ready as they can ever be, we make that hole, we get out gateway to the second phase. Once we get a line of sight, you empty your full weapon capacity on the smaller ships, Augustine can act as a bullhead to distract the enemy fleet and concentrate fire on her. She has enough weaponry and armor to take a beating and still come out on top. I will handle the big guns, you along with Jeanne D'Arc and the other ships will take care of the more agile ships and prevent ourselves from getting flanked. I will keep the other three ships as artillery, if you need help, ping it and the enemy vessel, and you will get a strike on the other ship."
She would pause for a few seconds, giving herself enough time to think through her plans, and give way to something she wanted to say to the Selenicans before they went through with the plan. She would remotely access the Selenican fleet ships Intercomms, with great ease, but causing a few alarms to go off.
"I'm sorry Admiral for the inconvenience, but I wish to tell you all something before we go into battle."
She took a deep, thoughtful breath, tranquility and peace going through her mind, transitioning into determination and will.
"Selenicans, for those of you who might not know, I am Lillian. I have been called forth to aid you in your hour of need. I might not be a native to the galaxy, and you have plenty of reason to judge me for it, for you have suffered much due to the UDS, a colonial power trying to get rid of one of the things that every sentient being deserves: freedom. For far too long, the UDS has put themselves over you, stepped on your rights, your freedoms, your will as a nation. They have tried to assimilate you against your will, they have done decisions not for your gain, but for their own."
On the outside, all of Lillians ships would glow like stars, a brilliant blue glimmering in the sky for any who saw it. Her ships would fire their TPPAs at the wall of drones, the kinetics going at a large percentage of the speed of light. The lights on the ships would glow every time she fired.
"You have been repressed, beaten, attacked and belittled for the simple fact of being born after them, for not having the same extension technologically and territorially. But to that we say: No more! No more colonial influence on your OWN decisions, no more attacks on your LIBERTIES, no more UDS on your own land!"
Another flash of light went off, another barrage.
"Today shall be a bloody day, we all know that. There will be heavy losses, both for us and for them. But, remember what you fight for, for who you fight for, remember everything your life has led up to, remember every moment these people have done to wrong you. Channel that hope, that anger, that search for true freedom in every decision you make. Make it your ally! We fight so that our future may be bright, we fight for FREEDOM! Remember, the result of a battle is not determined by sheer military might alone, nor is it determined by sheer planning alone. The result of the battle is the only truth! And our truth is liberty! ONE FORCE, FOR THE FUTURE!"
A third wall was fired, with the glimmer finally dying down.
The sheer passion in Lillians voice could be heard by everyone, her words reverberating through the halls of the Selenican ships. She hoped her fiery passion would stick with the Selenicans, wanting to give them a morale boost. She would return the intercomms to Selenican control, and back to the official channel between them.
"Gladius, full speed ahead!"
The ships began rapidly accelerating to the enemy position, Augustine creating a wall of particulate around itself to defend against the oncoming lance barrage. The artillery ships began firing wave after wave of missiles at the enemy position, knowing it will take a bit to get there, but once they got there, the pinning would be great.
"Admiral, we have our future ahead of us. Whatever lies there, I hope we can all find happiness in."
The shinning light of the tachyon lances would pierce through the dark void, bringing light only comparable to a star in it's magnificence. They clashed with the defensive might of one of the most powerful ships in Lillian's armada. An unstoppable force met an immovable object. At that moment, the first part of the barrage stuck a wall of sheer particulate stopping the lances. The particulate shield began to melt due to the sheer kinetic energy, but even with such heat, it did not bend to enemy attack. The PD array of the Augustine revved up, both kinetics and energy weapons began to fire upon the arrows with the hole made in the particulate screen. Thousands of rounds fired in the span of seconds, attacking the dazzling array of rainbow stars going at Light speed. Augustine stood tall against the attack, it seemed the attack would not hi-
BANG
Two lances hit the hull of the ship at relativistic speeds, getting through the holes in the particulate shield, the vibrations of the hit reverberating through the ship. A dust cloud dissapated into the particulate shield, joining the mighty defense. As the dust left, a heated dent left in the armour with several weapon systems in the area left damaged, unusable as of then and in need of repair. The PD cooled with the molten particulate and damaged hull, the areas now with plates of it instead of small particles. The barrage was over, but the UDS had its own tachyonic hell to deal with after the fact.
"And so, the unstoppable force passes through the immovable object. Gladius, once the area cools down, deploy repair drones and micrites to salvage what you can of the local weaponry, urgency level low."
"Admiral, we have our future ahead of us. Whatever lies there, I hope we can all find happiness in."
The shinning light of the tachyon lances would pierce through the dark void, bringing light only comparable to a star in it's magnificence. They clashed with the defensive might of one of the most powerful ships in Lillian's armada. An unstoppable force met an immovable object. At that moment, the first part of the barrage stuck a wall of sheer particulate stopping the lances. The particulate shield began to melt due to the sheer kinetic energy, but even with such heat, it did not bend to enemy attack. The PD array of the Augustine revved up, both kinetics and energy weapons began to fire upon the arrows with the hole made in the particulate screen. Thousands of rounds fired in the span of seconds, attacking the dazzling array of rainbow stars going at Light speed. Augustine stood tall against the attack, it seemed the attack would not hi-
BANG
Two lances hit the hull of the ship at relativistic speeds, getting through the holes in the particulate shield, the vibrations of the hit reverberating through the ship. A dust cloud dissapated into the particulate shield, joining the mighty defense. As the dust left, a heated dent left in the armour with several weapon systems in the area left damaged, unusable as of then and in need of repair. The PD cooled with the molten particulate and damaged hull, the areas now with plates of it instead of small particles. The barrage was over, but the UDS had its own tachyonic hell to deal with after the fact.
"And so, the unstoppable force passes through the immovable object. Gladius, once the area cools down, deploy repair drones and micrites to salvage what you can of the local weaponry, urgency level low."
“Wasn’t as effective as we were hoping,” Pyxis murmured as he scanned the damage done to the enemy ships. The initial barrage didn’t do much but it wasn’t like it was the end of the battle yet. Instead, he continued to listen to the stream of reports from officers all across the garrison. As he received reports of enemy fire coming right towards them he began to give orders.
“Alternate firing types,” he commanded, “we will need to overwhelm their point defences. Designate targets from…”
He listed down the enemy ships before he received a report- enemy fire had apparently struck some of their drones but it wasn’t too effective in the end as the drones were able to hide behind their carriers and suffer only minimal losses. The drones would still be able to do their duties as a defensive screen. The admiral continued to give his orders for what to do. Namely, how the UDS will be beginning a counterattack on the enemy formations…
“Alternate firing types,” he commanded, “we will need to overwhelm their point defences. Designate targets from…”
He listed down the enemy ships before he received a report- enemy fire had apparently struck some of their drones but it wasn’t too effective in the end as the drones were able to hide behind their carriers and suffer only minimal losses. The drones would still be able to do their duties as a defensive screen. The admiral continued to give his orders for what to do. Namely, how the UDS will be beginning a counterattack on the enemy formations…
The first few shots of the Selenican ships made contact with the brawlers of their UDS counterparts. There were no outright kills or devastating wounds, though a few destroyers ended up having their shield projectors burnt out from taking the hits.
However the UDS was not inactive during this period. The first few signs of UDS counter-offensive was attack craft being launched from five cruisers- their entire complement in fact to make for a total of ten fighter wings and five bomber wings. This huge mass of attack craft surrounded the battlegroup of brawler ships both to act as an escort and attack force.
An order was soon given to the battlegroup- assault the enemy formation and engage them head on. The Battle of Davos shall be decided not by a gruelling siege but in a single confrontation between enemy ships if the UDS were to have their way.
The carrier groups singalled the attack by firing a volley of casaba-howitzers missiles travelling nearly at light speeds. Yet not all of them were obvious- some infact, were equipped with sensor-blocking devices to allow them a modicum of stealth. These trailed behind the obvious ones as if to lure the enemy into a false sense of security. A little trick they picked up in Ancerious. No less than two minutes after this assault, they fired another volley of tachyon arrows. These consecutive attacks were directed at the lighter vessels of both the Selenicans and the Columen.
Under the cover of the carrier group’s fire, the brawlers and their escorts advanced towards the heart of the enemy force that was charging at the station. They fired their gauss cannons, launching tens of thousands of metallic slugs accelerated to insane speeds. More casaba-howitzer missiles were fired though mostly of the non-stealthed variety. It was clear that until they were within range of their enemy, they would refrain from wasting energy and instead do their damn best to overwhelm their point defences.
However the UDS was not inactive during this period. The first few signs of UDS counter-offensive was attack craft being launched from five cruisers- their entire complement in fact to make for a total of ten fighter wings and five bomber wings. This huge mass of attack craft surrounded the battlegroup of brawler ships both to act as an escort and attack force.
An order was soon given to the battlegroup- assault the enemy formation and engage them head on. The Battle of Davos shall be decided not by a gruelling siege but in a single confrontation between enemy ships if the UDS were to have their way.
The carrier groups singalled the attack by firing a volley of casaba-howitzers missiles travelling nearly at light speeds. Yet not all of them were obvious- some infact, were equipped with sensor-blocking devices to allow them a modicum of stealth. These trailed behind the obvious ones as if to lure the enemy into a false sense of security. A little trick they picked up in Ancerious. No less than two minutes after this assault, they fired another volley of tachyon arrows. These consecutive attacks were directed at the lighter vessels of both the Selenicans and the Columen.
Under the cover of the carrier group’s fire, the brawlers and their escorts advanced towards the heart of the enemy force that was charging at the station. They fired their gauss cannons, launching tens of thousands of metallic slugs accelerated to insane speeds. More casaba-howitzer missiles were fired though mostly of the non-stealthed variety. It was clear that until they were within range of their enemy, they would refrain from wasting energy and instead do their damn best to overwhelm their point defences.
"NOW!" Rizer would shout, the tachyonic lance approaching right on the outside edge of the range of the Selenican's tachyonic shielding. With moments to spare, the surge of tachyons being slowed to sub-light speed intercepted perfectly the oncoming projectile, the collision of these objects producing a massive flash of orange light. All other Selenican warships knew this was coming and had deadened their sensors for now as the flash of light returned to sender.
It was this moment the Selenicans decided to make their move, pushing their engines beyond their limits, nearly melting the engine bays to go faster, ever faster, to get close enough to the enemy capital fleet to wrap their hands around their necks and strangle their colonizers to submission. A return volley of tachyonic firepower headed directly for the same ships it had gone for previously was let loose, with its orange glow matching nicely with that of the flash bang. At this time the heavy Selenican defense fighters began to launch from the horns of the old and faithful carriers, having seen exemplary service in past battles, swarming around the advancing ships.
A missile volley was let loosed across the entire Selenican fleet, aimed directly for the heart of the System's battle line, backed up by intermittent gauss cannon fire from the battleship itself. In fact, the battleship's meager defense fighter complement was given authority to take flight, defending against any munitions they possibly could. If kinetics, shoot them down, if energy weapons, deploy the ad-hoc heavy smoke dischargers. If enemy fighters were encountered, engage from range at all costs.
With the enemy salvo nearing closer, yet closer, a call was sent out across the entire Selenican fleet's point defense - "OPEN FIRE ON THE KINETICS."
This order was in response to the incredible salvo of the System's fleet, with their gauss cannons and missile salvos, the impact kinetics could have on the thin-hided Selenican warships not unaware.
With such an order it was clear -- a hail of point defense fire began to pepper whatever munitions got close to the Selenican vessels. However, it could not save them all. A tight clumping of casaba howitzer munitions and tachyons pierced the tachyonic containment chamber of a cruiser present, and a flash of orange light from the inside of the vessel confirmed its fate. A chain reaction down the spine of the ship resulting in it's reactor detonation, sent shards of metal all across the fleet and system, causing minor damage to its surrounding ships. No men were able to be saved. A frigate suffered a similar fate, one of the RANGSI-purchased Type-A which had been woefully understaffed, its magazine for one of its plasma-sheathed railguns exploding in a firey demise, blowing a large hole in the ship's bow, depressurizing and ultimately disabling much of the ship, effectively being mission killed.
It was this moment the Selenicans decided to make their move, pushing their engines beyond their limits, nearly melting the engine bays to go faster, ever faster, to get close enough to the enemy capital fleet to wrap their hands around their necks and strangle their colonizers to submission. A return volley of tachyonic firepower headed directly for the same ships it had gone for previously was let loose, with its orange glow matching nicely with that of the flash bang. At this time the heavy Selenican defense fighters began to launch from the horns of the old and faithful carriers, having seen exemplary service in past battles, swarming around the advancing ships.
A missile volley was let loosed across the entire Selenican fleet, aimed directly for the heart of the System's battle line, backed up by intermittent gauss cannon fire from the battleship itself. In fact, the battleship's meager defense fighter complement was given authority to take flight, defending against any munitions they possibly could. If kinetics, shoot them down, if energy weapons, deploy the ad-hoc heavy smoke dischargers. If enemy fighters were encountered, engage from range at all costs.
With the enemy salvo nearing closer, yet closer, a call was sent out across the entire Selenican fleet's point defense - "OPEN FIRE ON THE KINETICS."
This order was in response to the incredible salvo of the System's fleet, with their gauss cannons and missile salvos, the impact kinetics could have on the thin-hided Selenican warships not unaware.
With such an order it was clear -- a hail of point defense fire began to pepper whatever munitions got close to the Selenican vessels. However, it could not save them all. A tight clumping of casaba howitzer munitions and tachyons pierced the tachyonic containment chamber of a cruiser present, and a flash of orange light from the inside of the vessel confirmed its fate. A chain reaction down the spine of the ship resulting in it's reactor detonation, sent shards of metal all across the fleet and system, causing minor damage to its surrounding ships. No men were able to be saved. A frigate suffered a similar fate, one of the RANGSI-purchased Type-A which had been woefully understaffed, its magazine for one of its plasma-sheathed railguns exploding in a firey demise, blowing a large hole in the ship's bow, depressurizing and ultimately disabling much of the ship, effectively being mission killed.
"Minimal damage on targets."
Lillian sighed, knowing it would do much at the distance they were currently, but she hoped it could've damaged a bit more. She composed herself, no time to hope for better after something happened already. The focus was now on the projectiles detected coming towards her vessels. CASF Augustine and Jeanne d'Arc made their way to the front, all power to engines speeding ahead towards their enemies, and readying the PD weaponry to fire upon even more near light speed projectiles.
Both ships would light up like stars in the night sky, their point defense firing upon the projectiles with a fury only comparable to the rage Lillian had hidden deep within. The sensors from both ships were lighting up like a christmas tree, detecting a lot of these projectiles, it seemed they wanted to distract them for a bit. Round after round after round fired from the PD, the ships putting up a valiant fight against the foe.
"Assault Midway, all projectiles have been des-"
BOOM
The front of both ships had been hit at the same time by Casaba projectiles, the heat being transferred to the ships themselves. Thanfully, they didn't hit any major systems, but two emergency reactors were now unoperational, with no atmosphere being lost due to the lack of biological beings on the ships. Lillian herself was rattled from the hit, with her being knocked down to the floor. These foes were not to be underestimated, but they had done a grave mistake.
They pissed her off.
"Fucking... let us FINISH OUR STATEMENTS! Gladius, once you're done with PD, on my command fire FULL volley from all weapons on those ships, TPPA, railguns, everything!, including the artillery. Fire full on thusters, we need to get as close as possible."
"This is no siege, this will be decided by a full confrontation."
The ship, even though it was rattled by the hits, were still ready to hit back with double the force, due to the redundancy Lillian had designed on her ships. The PD went silent after the volleys, and the counterattack was about to begin. Railguns loaded, lasers charged up, TPPA's loaded and calculated, missile and torpedo trajectories were calculated for maximum efficiency and damage. She would mourn for these people, these innocents that she would unfortunately have to kill in order to save another, but she knew this was the inevitability of war. Death was a part of war, she knew that very well, but, she had an agreement she needed to complete, her allies relied on it.
Inhale
Exhale
"...Fire."
The vacuum of space glowed with the light of thousands of rounds, projectiles, pellets, lasers and missiles firing all at once from the ships, some cloaked to sensors, but most being detectable. The lights of the Columen Artificialis glowed for a minute, as fire was being let out by Lillian. This was for them, this was for the people these had oppressed and tried to integrate forcefully, this was for the people that had died under them, the people that were killed by them. She would mourn for all sides, she would mourn for the unnecessary violence being reaped, but that came later, that came after surrender,. Right now, the Selenicans called for help.
And she would follow that to her grave, until it is done.
Lillian sighed, knowing it would do much at the distance they were currently, but she hoped it could've damaged a bit more. She composed herself, no time to hope for better after something happened already. The focus was now on the projectiles detected coming towards her vessels. CASF Augustine and Jeanne d'Arc made their way to the front, all power to engines speeding ahead towards their enemies, and readying the PD weaponry to fire upon even more near light speed projectiles.
Both ships would light up like stars in the night sky, their point defense firing upon the projectiles with a fury only comparable to the rage Lillian had hidden deep within. The sensors from both ships were lighting up like a christmas tree, detecting a lot of these projectiles, it seemed they wanted to distract them for a bit. Round after round after round fired from the PD, the ships putting up a valiant fight against the foe.
"Assault Midway, all projectiles have been des-"
BOOM
The front of both ships had been hit at the same time by Casaba projectiles, the heat being transferred to the ships themselves. Thanfully, they didn't hit any major systems, but two emergency reactors were now unoperational, with no atmosphere being lost due to the lack of biological beings on the ships. Lillian herself was rattled from the hit, with her being knocked down to the floor. These foes were not to be underestimated, but they had done a grave mistake.
They pissed her off.
"Fucking... let us FINISH OUR STATEMENTS! Gladius, once you're done with PD, on my command fire FULL volley from all weapons on those ships, TPPA, railguns, everything!, including the artillery. Fire full on thusters, we need to get as close as possible."
"This is no siege, this will be decided by a full confrontation."
The ship, even though it was rattled by the hits, were still ready to hit back with double the force, due to the redundancy Lillian had designed on her ships. The PD went silent after the volleys, and the counterattack was about to begin. Railguns loaded, lasers charged up, TPPA's loaded and calculated, missile and torpedo trajectories were calculated for maximum efficiency and damage. She would mourn for these people, these innocents that she would unfortunately have to kill in order to save another, but she knew this was the inevitability of war. Death was a part of war, she knew that very well, but, she had an agreement she needed to complete, her allies relied on it.
Inhale
Exhale
"...Fire."
The vacuum of space glowed with the light of thousands of rounds, projectiles, pellets, lasers and missiles firing all at once from the ships, some cloaked to sensors, but most being detectable. The lights of the Columen Artificialis glowed for a minute, as fire was being let out by Lillian. This was for them, this was for the people these had oppressed and tried to integrate forcefully, this was for the people that had died under them, the people that were killed by them. She would mourn for all sides, she would mourn for the unnecessary violence being reaped, but that came later, that came after surrender,. Right now, the Selenicans called for help.
And she would follow that to her grave, until it is done.
“They’re using some sort of flashbang to interfere with our sensors,” an officer reported to Pyxis. Sure enough, a lot of their sensors weren’t as effective in detecting the sole Selenican ship that released it. However, not everything was lost, “our gravimetric sensors can still detect the ship. We can have a rough estimate of their position and if our fighters can get close, we can use their on-board sensors to narrow it down,” the officer continued.
Pyxis was focused on the system map. Even though he had registered the words of the officer he was well aware that this battle was going to be bloody. He was already receiving reports of return fire and he knew that his next few orders shall determine the outcome of the battle.
“Let be so. Focus our might on smashing the Selenican lines. Have the Yellow Submarine and the monitors face off against the unknowns with support from the carriers. They will hold the line until we annihilate our enemy so we can focus on them. Uxbridge has full command over what happens there.”
Pyxis was focused on the system map. Even though he had registered the words of the officer he was well aware that this battle was going to be bloody. He was already receiving reports of return fire and he knew that his next few orders shall determine the outcome of the battle.
“Let be so. Focus our might on smashing the Selenican lines. Have the Yellow Submarine and the monitors face off against the unknowns with support from the carriers. They will hold the line until we annihilate our enemy so we can focus on them. Uxbridge has full command over what happens there.”
The return fire from the enemy yielded results indeed. One Rakiri-class frigate and three Dainsleif-class destroyers were destroyed under the hail of fire. One of the Fragarach-class battlecruisers had its shield projectors worn out. But in the end, the UDS forces advanced and divided. The brawler battlegroup split with the Yellow Submarine and three monitors breaking off from the advance group to charge towards the CA ships, outnumbered as they were. Meanwhile, the rest of the fleet smashed right into their Selenican counterparts.
The frigates were the first to act. First and foremost, they were support ships meant to assist dedicated brawlers in combat in any way possible. And they did this by letting loose with laser point defence at the oncoming wall of slugs fired from gauss cannons. Those that survived the volley of laser fire were soon met with by one entire wing of fighters that had broken off from the main assault group to intercept. Yet even as this interception movement occurred, the frigates were already piling fire with lasers and gauss cannons, focusing on the smaller Selenican ships as if to swarm them.
The battlecruisers and destroyers opened up with their plasma cannons, firing volley after volley of plasma bolts at their counterparts. Even as shields were burnt out and hulls melted, they continued to fire upon their enemy, determined to win the day for their nation. A destroyer exploded from taking too many nuclear missiles but the rest of the group carried on, intent on making their enemy bleed. Under the hail of plasma fire the fighter wings and bomber wings flew towards the Selenicans, the fighters to intercept missiles and slugs and to draw fire from the enemy as well. A few followed the bombers to act as escorts against enemy Selenican craft. This in turn allowed for the bombers to get close and release their deadly payloads of casaba-howitzer missiles and played a role as mobile e-war stations. But their sensors acted as a way to help triangulate the enemy positions to further assist with the accuracy of the brawler fleet, who quickly fired their gauss cannons as well. This brawl was quickly getting out of control yet the fight carried on.
As this raged on, the behemoth known as the Yellow Submarine and its escorts of three monitors made their way to the CA ships. One of the monitors was damaged with its projectors nearly spent but the group seemed determined to fight them head to head. The many tachyon arrows on the Yellow Submarine whirred to life and fired arrows of multi-coloured lights at the Augustine while peppering its counterpart with a hail of plasmafire.
Two of the monitors focused on the Jeanne D’Arc, and let loose their own weapons firing a volley of high-energy particles that exploded upon contact. The third damaged one joined the pounding, this time firing its gauss cannons and complement of nuclear missiles instead.
In the distance, several bright flashes of light shined- the carrier fleet had fired a volley of arrows at the rest of the CA fleet to add to the chaos.
The frigates were the first to act. First and foremost, they were support ships meant to assist dedicated brawlers in combat in any way possible. And they did this by letting loose with laser point defence at the oncoming wall of slugs fired from gauss cannons. Those that survived the volley of laser fire were soon met with by one entire wing of fighters that had broken off from the main assault group to intercept. Yet even as this interception movement occurred, the frigates were already piling fire with lasers and gauss cannons, focusing on the smaller Selenican ships as if to swarm them.
The battlecruisers and destroyers opened up with their plasma cannons, firing volley after volley of plasma bolts at their counterparts. Even as shields were burnt out and hulls melted, they continued to fire upon their enemy, determined to win the day for their nation. A destroyer exploded from taking too many nuclear missiles but the rest of the group carried on, intent on making their enemy bleed. Under the hail of plasma fire the fighter wings and bomber wings flew towards the Selenicans, the fighters to intercept missiles and slugs and to draw fire from the enemy as well. A few followed the bombers to act as escorts against enemy Selenican craft. This in turn allowed for the bombers to get close and release their deadly payloads of casaba-howitzer missiles and played a role as mobile e-war stations. But their sensors acted as a way to help triangulate the enemy positions to further assist with the accuracy of the brawler fleet, who quickly fired their gauss cannons as well. This brawl was quickly getting out of control yet the fight carried on.
As this raged on, the behemoth known as the Yellow Submarine and its escorts of three monitors made their way to the CA ships. One of the monitors was damaged with its projectors nearly spent but the group seemed determined to fight them head to head. The many tachyon arrows on the Yellow Submarine whirred to life and fired arrows of multi-coloured lights at the Augustine while peppering its counterpart with a hail of plasmafire.
Two of the monitors focused on the Jeanne D’Arc, and let loose their own weapons firing a volley of high-energy particles that exploded upon contact. The third damaged one joined the pounding, this time firing its gauss cannons and complement of nuclear missiles instead.
In the distance, several bright flashes of light shined- the carrier fleet had fired a volley of arrows at the rest of the CA fleet to add to the chaos.
The smaller Selenican vessels were nimble if nothing else by warship standards. As the System's frigates smashed closer and closer to their lines, tachyonic rain was let loosed from the many K-1-Class and Yanzana-Class present, with runs from the Kel'Thulian corvettes to harass the System's frigates wherever possible. Several of them were lost, mostly due to tachyonic chamber detonations, however, this posed an unusual benefit-- with the UDS so close and several of the smaller ships going down, this gave the survivors more room to maneuver and fight their larger peers in the UDS. Missiles slung out to hit the fighters, with incredible swarms numbering in the hundreds per salvo from the ships combined.
However, the rain of fire from the destroyers and battlecruisers of the System's fleet was not to go unanswered. Selenican plasma shields intercepted much of the oncoming fire, however, the rain was fierce and like that of Hell, scorching large portions of the outer sheen of Selenican plating. Then, the interception began by the defense fighters of the SR. One of their more recent armaments, and their more dangerous armaments, were deployable plasma shields. Essentially, these were oversized plasma missiles which, when in close proximity to enemy energy weapons determined by temperature, detonated, creating a cloud of plasma to intercept. Not the most reliable system, however, one which they required in this time of need. Several of these intercept projectiles were fired at oncoming barrages of UDS fire. Half detonated prematurely. Another quarter were annihilated before detonating. The remaining quarter successfully detonated in the right place, reducing the oncoming fire to the battleship and carriers present by a significant amount.
However, the rain of fire from the destroyers and battlecruisers of the System's fleet was not to go unanswered. Selenican plasma shields intercepted much of the oncoming fire, however, the rain was fierce and like that of Hell, scorching large portions of the outer sheen of Selenican plating. Then, the interception began by the defense fighters of the SR. One of their more recent armaments, and their more dangerous armaments, were deployable plasma shields. Essentially, these were oversized plasma missiles which, when in close proximity to enemy energy weapons determined by temperature, detonated, creating a cloud of plasma to intercept. Not the most reliable system, however, one which they required in this time of need. Several of these intercept projectiles were fired at oncoming barrages of UDS fire. Half detonated prematurely. Another quarter were annihilated before detonating. The remaining quarter successfully detonated in the right place, reducing the oncoming fire to the battleship and carriers present by a significant amount.
These defense fighters, more comparable to enemy bombers than actual maneuverable craft, were perfect for bomber interception, however. As was learned when 2 squadrons of these fighters managed to destroy several System's bombers, hardly escaping the blast of their casaba missiles.
However, this success was not total, as some of the enemy bombers released their hellish payloads right onto a Selenican carrier, whose fighter and strike-craft complement were being pushed to their limit for interception missions. A casaba missile struck dead center of one of the carrier's hangars, and detonated right inside it, blasting a massive portion of the ship's armor and hangar space away, severely crippling the carrier's strike capability. The tachyon flashbang had proven less effective than hoped.
The battleship present began to focus its fire on the destroyers of the UDS, hurling massive chunks of metal at them with much regularity. Fire, ram warhead, ram magnetic charge behind it, lift into the turret, fire again. This hail of gunfire, supported by the smaller secondary tachyonic guns and comparatively heavy armor of the battleship made it a vicious foe, managing to brute force its way through the enemy fire. Its damage was not negligible, however, as one of its 4 main turrets were knocked offline.
Selenican cruisers tanked the brunt of the damage, losing three more of their number while their attached armament ships continually fired more and more and more torpedoes, missiles, and any smaller-caliber supplementary point defense guns they had to defend their motherships. Such was the brutality, the ferocity of the fight, that one of the SR's armament ships had run out of its ammo and, along with its cruiser mothership, began a retreat.
The RANGSI Type-A's were serving as wonderful fleet-defense units, preventing many plasma bolts from ramming into the hulls of Selenican ships. One of their number, however, was lost due to a jam in a plasma railgun turret, leading to a chain reaction stemming from its magazine detonation.
However, this success was not total, as some of the enemy bombers released their hellish payloads right onto a Selenican carrier, whose fighter and strike-craft complement were being pushed to their limit for interception missions. A casaba missile struck dead center of one of the carrier's hangars, and detonated right inside it, blasting a massive portion of the ship's armor and hangar space away, severely crippling the carrier's strike capability. The tachyon flashbang had proven less effective than hoped.
The battleship present began to focus its fire on the destroyers of the UDS, hurling massive chunks of metal at them with much regularity. Fire, ram warhead, ram magnetic charge behind it, lift into the turret, fire again. This hail of gunfire, supported by the smaller secondary tachyonic guns and comparatively heavy armor of the battleship made it a vicious foe, managing to brute force its way through the enemy fire. Its damage was not negligible, however, as one of its 4 main turrets were knocked offline.
Selenican cruisers tanked the brunt of the damage, losing three more of their number while their attached armament ships continually fired more and more and more torpedoes, missiles, and any smaller-caliber supplementary point defense guns they had to defend their motherships. Such was the brutality, the ferocity of the fight, that one of the SR's armament ships had run out of its ammo and, along with its cruiser mothership, began a retreat.
The RANGSI Type-A's were serving as wonderful fleet-defense units, preventing many plasma bolts from ramming into the hulls of Selenican ships. One of their number, however, was lost due to a jam in a plasma railgun turret, leading to a chain reaction stemming from its magazine detonation.
Lillian stood defiantly at the wall of munitions firing at her ships, the vibrations from all the PD weaponry firing at once, particulate being spread, and the sound of the reactors pumping hydrogen to power all the energy on the ship. The battle between behemoths was commencing, and Lillian knew she had to win, destroy them here and now, or take over their systems, but how would she do tha-
The particle weapons
"Gladius! Are we in range for Particle bombardment?"
"Distance adequate for Particle Bombardment."
Lillian had an opening, and she had to take it.
She focused attacks from the Vitrum Basilic on the damaged Monitor, hoping to take it out before it could do more damage. Rounds of kinetics, lasers and TPs fired at the monitor, both from the smaller ships, as well as from Augustine and Jeanne D'Arc, pretending to be distracted by an easy target. Inside of the ships, particle weaponry began its heat up sequence, reading for maximum impact.
"Get cloaked NVs on the ready! Ready the Kugelblitz to flash their sensors, full gravimetric overload! Fire on my command all munitions on the central ship!"
Munitions on all ships began to move, unbeknownst to the enemy, ready to rain down hellfire across the heavens. But before they could fire, a volley of tachyonic lances from the enemy approached her main ships. In a desperate attempt to get them before they interrupted her again, a Vitrum Basilic moved in front of the volley, spreading a massive screen of particulate, and fired its PD at unrecognizable speeds, trying its best to prevent the inevitable.
But it was too little, too late.
The ship, meanwhile it was able to destroy some before it got hit, it still hit the Vitrum Basilic with incredible force of the light speed projectiles. Sure, it prevented damage to the major ships, but at the cost of itself. In one last defiant act, it launched all of its weaponry at the damaged monitor, including ejecting one of its antimatter containment units.
Once it committed its last act, an antimatter containment unit failed, the middle and front of the ship exploding in a blaze of glory for the Selenicans, a job well done for a ship. Now was no time to get distracted at the loss of a ship, this was war, after all.
"Fire!"
The assault fired in sequence. First, the wall of particle EMPs fired at all the ships, wanting to mess with all its electronics, weakening them before her second assault. To mess with their sensors, Augustine became a shinning light not only for the closer ships, but also for any gravimetric sensors in the system. This gave opportunity for all the ships to turn to vantablack stealth, avoiding LIDAR and a lot of light based vision. The ships began to move around, Vitrum Basillics and Speculator class firing volley after volley of kinetics, missiles, and most importantly, both cloaked and uncloaked Nanite Virus Torpedoes. If they hit their marks, their payloads would penetrate the ships hulls and release their virus, to try and control the internal systems of the ships directly. This massive assault allowed the smaller and more agile ships to confuse the enemy sensors and attack on all angles. It didn't have the sheer destructive nature of EM scattering with Nuclear weapons, but it was still extremely devastating to electronics.
Jeanne D'Arc began a different assault on the monitors, a cybernetic one. All the Quantum Brains on the ships began a long range assault of the firewalls of the ships, using the EM confusion and weakened state of electronics to try and punch a hole remotely in the ships, messing with nav systems, aiming systems, and even energy systems. This was her greatest strength as a QAI, and where she wanted to defeat the UDS before they knew what hit them.
As a way to mess with them, she sent the UDS a recorded message.
"You have made the grave mistake of trying to forcefully integrating an independent state. For a supposed "Democratic" nation. that is... rather undemocratic"
She chuckled a bit, the recording distorting at the laugh, before continuing.
"You have the option to surrender now, or suffer more. I do not wish to cause more death than necessary, you all have families you wish to go back to, you all have lives worth living, you have a nation you can live in. I understand all of that. Once the dust settles, I know you will see me with hatred, with resentment, just like the Selenicans see you now. But, I will not see you with hatred, rather with empathy. I will dedicate monuments to your fallen, to the lives lost on all sides. Please, reconsider your stand here, think of your families, your friends, your lives. Please don't make me have to cause more harm to you. Please."
Lillians voice sounded remorseful for the acts she had to commit in such a situation, it was truly unnecessary bloodshed for her. She knew it probably wouldn't work, not now, but she tried anyway. After all, if she could maybe prevent more casualties, why not do it?
The particle weapons
"Gladius! Are we in range for Particle bombardment?"
"Distance adequate for Particle Bombardment."
Lillian had an opening, and she had to take it.
She focused attacks from the Vitrum Basilic on the damaged Monitor, hoping to take it out before it could do more damage. Rounds of kinetics, lasers and TPs fired at the monitor, both from the smaller ships, as well as from Augustine and Jeanne D'Arc, pretending to be distracted by an easy target. Inside of the ships, particle weaponry began its heat up sequence, reading for maximum impact.
"Get cloaked NVs on the ready! Ready the Kugelblitz to flash their sensors, full gravimetric overload! Fire on my command all munitions on the central ship!"
Munitions on all ships began to move, unbeknownst to the enemy, ready to rain down hellfire across the heavens. But before they could fire, a volley of tachyonic lances from the enemy approached her main ships. In a desperate attempt to get them before they interrupted her again, a Vitrum Basilic moved in front of the volley, spreading a massive screen of particulate, and fired its PD at unrecognizable speeds, trying its best to prevent the inevitable.
But it was too little, too late.
The ship, meanwhile it was able to destroy some before it got hit, it still hit the Vitrum Basilic with incredible force of the light speed projectiles. Sure, it prevented damage to the major ships, but at the cost of itself. In one last defiant act, it launched all of its weaponry at the damaged monitor, including ejecting one of its antimatter containment units.
Once it committed its last act, an antimatter containment unit failed, the middle and front of the ship exploding in a blaze of glory for the Selenicans, a job well done for a ship. Now was no time to get distracted at the loss of a ship, this was war, after all.
"Fire!"
The assault fired in sequence. First, the wall of particle EMPs fired at all the ships, wanting to mess with all its electronics, weakening them before her second assault. To mess with their sensors, Augustine became a shinning light not only for the closer ships, but also for any gravimetric sensors in the system. This gave opportunity for all the ships to turn to vantablack stealth, avoiding LIDAR and a lot of light based vision. The ships began to move around, Vitrum Basillics and Speculator class firing volley after volley of kinetics, missiles, and most importantly, both cloaked and uncloaked Nanite Virus Torpedoes. If they hit their marks, their payloads would penetrate the ships hulls and release their virus, to try and control the internal systems of the ships directly. This massive assault allowed the smaller and more agile ships to confuse the enemy sensors and attack on all angles. It didn't have the sheer destructive nature of EM scattering with Nuclear weapons, but it was still extremely devastating to electronics.
Jeanne D'Arc began a different assault on the monitors, a cybernetic one. All the Quantum Brains on the ships began a long range assault of the firewalls of the ships, using the EM confusion and weakened state of electronics to try and punch a hole remotely in the ships, messing with nav systems, aiming systems, and even energy systems. This was her greatest strength as a QAI, and where she wanted to defeat the UDS before they knew what hit them.
As a way to mess with them, she sent the UDS a recorded message.
"You have made the grave mistake of trying to forcefully integrating an independent state. For a supposed "Democratic" nation. that is... rather undemocratic"
She chuckled a bit, the recording distorting at the laugh, before continuing.
"You have the option to surrender now, or suffer more. I do not wish to cause more death than necessary, you all have families you wish to go back to, you all have lives worth living, you have a nation you can live in. I understand all of that. Once the dust settles, I know you will see me with hatred, with resentment, just like the Selenicans see you now. But, I will not see you with hatred, rather with empathy. I will dedicate monuments to your fallen, to the lives lost on all sides. Please, reconsider your stand here, think of your families, your friends, your lives. Please don't make me have to cause more harm to you. Please."
Lillians voice sounded remorseful for the acts she had to commit in such a situation, it was truly unnecessary bloodshed for her. She knew it probably wouldn't work, not now, but she tried anyway. After all, if she could maybe prevent more casualties, why not do it?
CIC of Starfort Ophidian
Hours had passed since the opening engagement in which the first shots were fired at the unknown navy. Hours had passed since the Battle of Davos had begun and already the lives of thousands had been lost in the ensuing combat. And the UDS forces had taken a beating. By the end of this bout, most of the attack force had been destroyed though both sides were bloodied, which allowed for a lull in the fighting- a brief moment to step back and recover from the madness.
The plan for their ‘victory’ never did involve their main attack forces simply overwhelming their enemies and claiming the day- no, it always was a delaying tactic to slow down the tide. And to be fair, it did work in the end. However, the casualties were horrendous for even the most cold-hearted human commander.
Pyxis sighed deeply as he looked over the data presented from the engagement alongside the rest of his captains though most had joined via hologram. He sighed and turned his gaze away from the screen to look at his right hand man, “Uxbridge. Give it to me straight- do you think we can beat them?”
Uxbridge was the one he left in charge of the garrison ships during the combat and the commander bravely at the front, commanding the dreadnought Yellow Submarine and taking the enemies head on. Sadly, his ship had taken far too much damage and was destroyed though Uxbridge had escaped and quickly resumed command of the battle where he soon organised a fighting retreat, “well Pyxis,” he began, forgoing formality- he deserved that at the very least, “the short answer is probably not. We’ve taken far too many losses and exhausted too many resources. And that was with our fighting ships. Our carriers aren’t likely to last long in a direct firefight- which is what this battle is looking like.”
The man seemed to age by a decade as he spoke, “we lost all of our battlecruisers. We’ve only a destroyer and two frigates left, not counting our last three monitors. That won’t be enough to save us. While we’ve dealt a bloody blow to them it’s not enough to stop them.”
Posonoby sighed, “my hangars are still full. Perhaps that can make the difference,” she didn’t seem too hopeful however.
Maitland shared the same view, “if the go for a direct strike at the station then our platforms will be useless. Frankly, our chance of victory is slim- if not, already gone.”
Wellesley said nothing though his gaze was pensive. In the end, he shook his head, “then perhaps we should start considering our options. We can’t run. So what can we do now?”
For a moment, there is silence. Then at last, Pyxis stood up and straightened the tie of his uniform, “well comrades. There isn’t much choice left then. I will raise the white flag and call for a truce to negotiate. Our offer is simple- I will surrender myself and the starfort to the Selenicans without any more fighting. In exchange, they allow for our garrison forces and all personnel to leave the star system, unharmed. Either way… the battle has been lost. All we can do now is to save lives on both sides.”
The lack of protest and the presence of pensive silence gave him his confidence. Without another word, Pyxis stepped out of the CIC to contact communications.
In the void of a space a single transmission was broadcasted for all to hear. The message was simple and understandable for both the UDS and the Selenican-Columen forces. It was as follows-
”On behalf of the garrison of Starfort Ophidian and every living being here, I greet our worthy adversaries. I am rear admiral Pyxis and I come bearing the white flag to call for a ceasefire. I wish to enter negotiations with the military force here so that we can discuss a conclusion to this battle that is satisfactory to everyone here.”
Hours had passed since the opening engagement in which the first shots were fired at the unknown navy. Hours had passed since the Battle of Davos had begun and already the lives of thousands had been lost in the ensuing combat. And the UDS forces had taken a beating. By the end of this bout, most of the attack force had been destroyed though both sides were bloodied, which allowed for a lull in the fighting- a brief moment to step back and recover from the madness.
The plan for their ‘victory’ never did involve their main attack forces simply overwhelming their enemies and claiming the day- no, it always was a delaying tactic to slow down the tide. And to be fair, it did work in the end. However, the casualties were horrendous for even the most cold-hearted human commander.
Pyxis sighed deeply as he looked over the data presented from the engagement alongside the rest of his captains though most had joined via hologram. He sighed and turned his gaze away from the screen to look at his right hand man, “Uxbridge. Give it to me straight- do you think we can beat them?”
Uxbridge was the one he left in charge of the garrison ships during the combat and the commander bravely at the front, commanding the dreadnought Yellow Submarine and taking the enemies head on. Sadly, his ship had taken far too much damage and was destroyed though Uxbridge had escaped and quickly resumed command of the battle where he soon organised a fighting retreat, “well Pyxis,” he began, forgoing formality- he deserved that at the very least, “the short answer is probably not. We’ve taken far too many losses and exhausted too many resources. And that was with our fighting ships. Our carriers aren’t likely to last long in a direct firefight- which is what this battle is looking like.”
The man seemed to age by a decade as he spoke, “we lost all of our battlecruisers. We’ve only a destroyer and two frigates left, not counting our last three monitors. That won’t be enough to save us. While we’ve dealt a bloody blow to them it’s not enough to stop them.”
Posonoby sighed, “my hangars are still full. Perhaps that can make the difference,” she didn’t seem too hopeful however.
Maitland shared the same view, “if the go for a direct strike at the station then our platforms will be useless. Frankly, our chance of victory is slim- if not, already gone.”
Wellesley said nothing though his gaze was pensive. In the end, he shook his head, “then perhaps we should start considering our options. We can’t run. So what can we do now?”
For a moment, there is silence. Then at last, Pyxis stood up and straightened the tie of his uniform, “well comrades. There isn’t much choice left then. I will raise the white flag and call for a truce to negotiate. Our offer is simple- I will surrender myself and the starfort to the Selenicans without any more fighting. In exchange, they allow for our garrison forces and all personnel to leave the star system, unharmed. Either way… the battle has been lost. All we can do now is to save lives on both sides.”
The lack of protest and the presence of pensive silence gave him his confidence. Without another word, Pyxis stepped out of the CIC to contact communications.
In the void of a space a single transmission was broadcasted for all to hear. The message was simple and understandable for both the UDS and the Selenican-Columen forces. It was as follows-
”On behalf of the garrison of Starfort Ophidian and every living being here, I greet our worthy adversaries. I am rear admiral Pyxis and I come bearing the white flag to call for a ceasefire. I wish to enter negotiations with the military force here so that we can discuss a conclusion to this battle that is satisfactory to everyone here.”
The fight for the ceasefire was not one without loss. As a part of the UDS's defenses were sent forth into the fray of the Selenican ships, a battle worthy of the name Armageddon broke loose. Thousands upon thousands of orange glowing beams shot forth from the Selenican ships, aimed for the hearts of their targets with the rage of billions of people. Many of the smaller Selenican ships, especially the frigates which were already grossly overarmed with tachyonic weaponry anyway, began to spontaneously detonate throughout the battle, with many of the Selenican fleet-defense squadrons being annihilated, the point defense fire was so thick both from Selenican vessels and their targets that no flight operations from the slow, lumbering Selenican anti-fighter ships could survive more than a few minutes in this multi-hour struggle. All of the RANGSI-purchased ships which were brought to the engagement had been reduced to space debris or annihilated outright by the weapons of the UDS. All throughout this engagement, thousands of lives were lost per hour, with the highest casualty count being upwards of 150,000 across all Selenican vessels. Such a gross loss of life would've had any other Admiral dismissed and likely executed, but with the fervor of a people possessed and the future of their nation on the line, the Admiral of this operation was not condemned for this loss.
Many of the old Selenican carriers were utterly reduced to piles of ash, only one of the five brought remaining. The battleship of the formation had been lost early in the engagement, and the once-useful tachyonic flashbang not seeing utility at such close range with such brutal fighting.
Many of the old Selenican carriers were utterly reduced to piles of ash, only one of the five brought remaining. The battleship of the formation had been lost early in the engagement, and the once-useful tachyonic flashbang not seeing utility at such close range with such brutal fighting.
"Rizer, we're getting a message. It's from the Starfort." A subordinate would shout to their Admiral.
"Patch them through."
A moment of silence, then...
”On behalf of the garrison of Starfort Ophidian and every living being here, I greet our worthy adversaries. I am rear admiral Pyxis and I come bearing the white flag to call for a ceasefire. I wish to enter negotiations with the military force here so that we can discuss a conclusion to this battle that is satisfactory to everyone here.”
With not a moment to spare, the bastards at the systems who had attempted to crush the Selenicans under their heel had been the first to break under the fire of combat.
"About time." Rizer would chuckle to himself. "Accept the ceasefire, and patch this through to Lilian too. HEY! KLESJKA!"
"Yessir?" the diplomat would reply, having been escorted to a safer section of the bridge following the near-destruction of Rizer's flagship earlier in the fight.
"We're gonna need you to work out a peace with these bastards. They're calling a ceasefire." Rizer would say through his communications set to the diplomat they brought along.
"Accept it at once." he would reply, in his normal outfit more befitting a Selenican lady than anyone else.
"Already working on it!"
With only a few moments delay after the UDS called for the ceasefire, the Selenican response was broadcast all throughout the battlefield.
"We, the Selenican Republic, and our Admiral Rizer, have accepted your call for a ceasefire. Any and all unprovoked attacks from our side will be punished if they occur."
The losses were staggering. 80% of the overall force were destroyed or disabled, with even the survivors being heavily damaged. But, the storm had been weathered for now, and freedom was so much closer, with the blood of those who died having not gone in vain in a blast of tachyonic fire.
"Patch them through."
A moment of silence, then...
”On behalf of the garrison of Starfort Ophidian and every living being here, I greet our worthy adversaries. I am rear admiral Pyxis and I come bearing the white flag to call for a ceasefire. I wish to enter negotiations with the military force here so that we can discuss a conclusion to this battle that is satisfactory to everyone here.”
With not a moment to spare, the bastards at the systems who had attempted to crush the Selenicans under their heel had been the first to break under the fire of combat.
"About time." Rizer would chuckle to himself. "Accept the ceasefire, and patch this through to Lilian too. HEY! KLESJKA!"
"Yessir?" the diplomat would reply, having been escorted to a safer section of the bridge following the near-destruction of Rizer's flagship earlier in the fight.
"We're gonna need you to work out a peace with these bastards. They're calling a ceasefire." Rizer would say through his communications set to the diplomat they brought along.
"Accept it at once." he would reply, in his normal outfit more befitting a Selenican lady than anyone else.
"Already working on it!"
With only a few moments delay after the UDS called for the ceasefire, the Selenican response was broadcast all throughout the battlefield.
"We, the Selenican Republic, and our Admiral Rizer, have accepted your call for a ceasefire. Any and all unprovoked attacks from our side will be punished if they occur."
The losses were staggering. 80% of the overall force were destroyed or disabled, with even the survivors being heavily damaged. But, the storm had been weathered for now, and freedom was so much closer, with the blood of those who died having not gone in vain in a blast of tachyonic fire.
Drip…
It had been hours since the battle started, the might of three nations firing upon each other to settle a debate. A debate about independence, about freedom… about people. It had been hours since the first casualty happened, some poor soul caught in a fire, some poor soul caught and crushed under the gears of war, blood and guts used as lubricant for the gears. The cruelty of war showed itself clearly to any who sought it out.
The greatest mistake of the galaxy had ever committed.
Drip…
She had been used to the sheer brutality of war for over a hundred years. A drop in the ocean for her grand age, and yet, it felt like the longest century she could remember.
She really wished she didn’t remember it, not so clearly at least.
Drip…
A leaky coolant pipe let a small fraction of its liquid escape, damaged due to the battle. Jeanne d’Arc was always designed to be a mighty and sturdy ship, similar to the human icon it was named after, but it didn’t mean it couldn’t sustain damage, especially in such a big battle. She was one of three ships still alive… well, one was barely alive. Augustine was understandably going to come out alive, at least up until now, but the surprising thing was a Vitrum Basillic was able to make it out, although barely so.
But that didn’t matter to her. She herself was expendable in every way.
But the lives lost by the UDS and Selenicans weren’t.
Drip…
A drop of coolant fell on her face, the scalding cold damaging the skin around it.
But she didn’t care.
She didn’t really matter in the grand picture, she understood that much.
She had been so used to war for so long, fought a war for the survival of her universe, but in the end, it didn’t matter. She might’ve won, but she lost everything.
She sometimes wondered if she was the cause of it.
No matter though, she just needed to get this ships fixed, maybe then she could pay for what she let happen, maybe then the loss of tens of thousands could be paid, maybe then she could... not be a burden...
"Incoming transmission from the Selenican Armed Forces"
The sudden mechanical sound made Lillian snap out of her seemingly hypnotic state. It wasn't so much a scare, as it was just simply surprising. She pondered why they were doing this, especially since that was a moment to breathe, to fix ships, to get what they had left ready for the next engagement... if they had one.
The self doubt crept up again.
"Let me hear it..."
"UDS forces wish for a ceasefire, Selenicans have accepted. Any action in violence against each other in the meantime for a ceasefire will be reprimanded."
"So... no more fighting, huh...?"
She stared blankly into the roof above her, seeming lost in thought. On one hand, she was ecstatic at the thought of no one else having to lose their lives here, at the thought of the Selenicans being able to obtain what they deserved... but it also felt... empty to her. Sure, victory was sweet, but what is that sweetness compared to the blood and guts of war? Was it truly worth it?
From her estimates, the Selenicans had lost 80%. 80% of the forces brought here, 80% of the brave men and women who sought to liberate their country, all gone, lost to the void itself.
"...Prepare a trasmission for both sides."
The air cracked to life.
"This is Commander Lillian, I have been informed of the ceasefire between both sides. I will be here as a mediator for both sides, and will not hesitate to reprimand any and all action committed in bad faith towards the other. I do not care what side you are on, the bloodshed has gone on long enough."
It had been hours since the battle started, the might of three nations firing upon each other to settle a debate. A debate about independence, about freedom… about people. It had been hours since the first casualty happened, some poor soul caught in a fire, some poor soul caught and crushed under the gears of war, blood and guts used as lubricant for the gears. The cruelty of war showed itself clearly to any who sought it out.
The greatest mistake of the galaxy had ever committed.
Drip…
She had been used to the sheer brutality of war for over a hundred years. A drop in the ocean for her grand age, and yet, it felt like the longest century she could remember.
She really wished she didn’t remember it, not so clearly at least.
Drip…
A leaky coolant pipe let a small fraction of its liquid escape, damaged due to the battle. Jeanne d’Arc was always designed to be a mighty and sturdy ship, similar to the human icon it was named after, but it didn’t mean it couldn’t sustain damage, especially in such a big battle. She was one of three ships still alive… well, one was barely alive. Augustine was understandably going to come out alive, at least up until now, but the surprising thing was a Vitrum Basillic was able to make it out, although barely so.
But that didn’t matter to her. She herself was expendable in every way.
But the lives lost by the UDS and Selenicans weren’t.
Drip…
A drop of coolant fell on her face, the scalding cold damaging the skin around it.
But she didn’t care.
She didn’t really matter in the grand picture, she understood that much.
She had been so used to war for so long, fought a war for the survival of her universe, but in the end, it didn’t matter. She might’ve won, but she lost everything.
She sometimes wondered if she was the cause of it.
No matter though, she just needed to get this ships fixed, maybe then she could pay for what she let happen, maybe then the loss of tens of thousands could be paid, maybe then she could... not be a burden...
"Incoming transmission from the Selenican Armed Forces"
The sudden mechanical sound made Lillian snap out of her seemingly hypnotic state. It wasn't so much a scare, as it was just simply surprising. She pondered why they were doing this, especially since that was a moment to breathe, to fix ships, to get what they had left ready for the next engagement... if they had one.
The self doubt crept up again.
"Let me hear it..."
"UDS forces wish for a ceasefire, Selenicans have accepted. Any action in violence against each other in the meantime for a ceasefire will be reprimanded."
"So... no more fighting, huh...?"
She stared blankly into the roof above her, seeming lost in thought. On one hand, she was ecstatic at the thought of no one else having to lose their lives here, at the thought of the Selenicans being able to obtain what they deserved... but it also felt... empty to her. Sure, victory was sweet, but what is that sweetness compared to the blood and guts of war? Was it truly worth it?
From her estimates, the Selenicans had lost 80%. 80% of the forces brought here, 80% of the brave men and women who sought to liberate their country, all gone, lost to the void itself.
"...Prepare a trasmission for both sides."
The air cracked to life.
"This is Commander Lillian, I have been informed of the ceasefire between both sides. I will be here as a mediator for both sides, and will not hesitate to reprimand any and all action committed in bad faith towards the other. I do not care what side you are on, the bloodshed has gone on long enough."
Communications Centre of Starfort Ophidian
“That the end of the transmission?” Pyxis asked as the transmission sent by both parties finished playing across the receivers.
“Yes sir,” An officer manning the computer responded, “the first one was sent by the Selenicans. The second by their unknown allies,” there is silence as the officer typed away, “we’ve been unable to gather anymore data so far. Shall we dispatch data probes, sir?”
Pyxis shook his head, “there is no need for that- we cannot risk it. Hold on any more replies for now- I must convene with my commanders,” he turned away from the comms device to instead focus on his retinue who had gathered behind him, “well comrades, what is the impressions you have?”
“They’re serious about the ceasefire at the very least,” Wellesley replied, “the second speaker especially. I don’t know who this ‘Lilian’ is but she seems intent on enforcing it- no matter her side if we are to assume her words. Could she perhaps be a mercenary of some kind?”
“Likely but we lack information to make a proper assessment of her or her mental state,” Uxbridge pointed out, “still, it is something to consider in our negotiations.”
“Well at least someone doesn’t want to fight anymore,” Maitland mumbled, But a mediator will be useful. What will our response be?”
Seeing that it was now his cue, Pyxis re-entered the conversation, “we will direct them to our hangars of course. Negotiations on a scale like this are best done in-person unless they object and prefer by communications. Either way, I’ll prepare a message for them now.”
A moment hardly passed and soon, another transmission is broadcasted across the star system for them to hear alongside a data package, “We will honour the terms of the ceasefire. We invite the commanders of the respective forces to meet us on board Starfort Ophidian so that we may conduct negotiations in person. Directions to a hangar will be provided in the dasta package. You may bring an armed escort provided it is no larger than a group of thirty. Should you prefer this form of negotiations, this too is acceptable and we request permission to open a direct line to all parties involved.”
“That the end of the transmission?” Pyxis asked as the transmission sent by both parties finished playing across the receivers.
“Yes sir,” An officer manning the computer responded, “the first one was sent by the Selenicans. The second by their unknown allies,” there is silence as the officer typed away, “we’ve been unable to gather anymore data so far. Shall we dispatch data probes, sir?”
Pyxis shook his head, “there is no need for that- we cannot risk it. Hold on any more replies for now- I must convene with my commanders,” he turned away from the comms device to instead focus on his retinue who had gathered behind him, “well comrades, what is the impressions you have?”
“They’re serious about the ceasefire at the very least,” Wellesley replied, “the second speaker especially. I don’t know who this ‘Lilian’ is but she seems intent on enforcing it- no matter her side if we are to assume her words. Could she perhaps be a mercenary of some kind?”
“Likely but we lack information to make a proper assessment of her or her mental state,” Uxbridge pointed out, “still, it is something to consider in our negotiations.”
“Well at least someone doesn’t want to fight anymore,” Maitland mumbled, But a mediator will be useful. What will our response be?”
Seeing that it was now his cue, Pyxis re-entered the conversation, “we will direct them to our hangars of course. Negotiations on a scale like this are best done in-person unless they object and prefer by communications. Either way, I’ll prepare a message for them now.”
A moment hardly passed and soon, another transmission is broadcasted across the star system for them to hear alongside a data package, “We will honour the terms of the ceasefire. We invite the commanders of the respective forces to meet us on board Starfort Ophidian so that we may conduct negotiations in person. Directions to a hangar will be provided in the dasta package. You may bring an armed escort provided it is no larger than a group of thirty. Should you prefer this form of negotiations, this too is acceptable and we request permission to open a direct line to all parties involved.”
"Deny their request to open negotiations in person. I don't trust this isn't a trap." Rizer says, his hands trembling from the euphoria of victory. Victory, victory, victory. A victory not just of him as an admiral, not just of his ships, his men and women, but of the entire Selenican people. The force of overwhelming will seems to have pulled through, this time.
"We deny your request to conduct diplomacy in person, however, we are open to doing this on comm channels."
A short pause, as the dreadful silence which follows every battle settles in. The debris of thousands of dead, their vessels, their pride. All floating debris, nothing more than ash and massive hulks of metal. How long would it be until salvage operations come through and scrape the place dry? No matter the outcome, Davos had been the site of a great victory.
Klesjka had been hurriedly making preparations for the up and coming negotiations, getting dressed in his finest clothes, ready to gain anything the Selenicans can hope to achieve. Priority number one, however, was to secure complete independence from the UDS. With the severe losses the UDS had suffered, not just from the Selenicans, but also Lilian, who had honored her duty to support the Selenicans in their fight for freedom, this would be likely, if not an absolute certainty -- the UDS was overstretched, and--
"Sir?" a crew member interrupted Klesjka's thoughts, stepping into the room. "Admiral Rizer needs you on the bridge as soon as possible."
"I suppose it's time?" He would respond, approaching the door, slowly. Doubt began to overcome him, even though his goals were near certain. Was the bloodshed worthwhile? Was it worth it? Thoughts were needing to be shaken from his head as he approached the comms screen in the bridge, standing as tall as his relatively short length would allow, cold determination hiding his fear.
"I am the diplomat of the Selenican Republic you will be negotiating with. On the behalf of my brothers and sisters, I am glad you finally ceased the violence, and opened talks."
"We deny your request to conduct diplomacy in person, however, we are open to doing this on comm channels."
A short pause, as the dreadful silence which follows every battle settles in. The debris of thousands of dead, their vessels, their pride. All floating debris, nothing more than ash and massive hulks of metal. How long would it be until salvage operations come through and scrape the place dry? No matter the outcome, Davos had been the site of a great victory.
Klesjka had been hurriedly making preparations for the up and coming negotiations, getting dressed in his finest clothes, ready to gain anything the Selenicans can hope to achieve. Priority number one, however, was to secure complete independence from the UDS. With the severe losses the UDS had suffered, not just from the Selenicans, but also Lilian, who had honored her duty to support the Selenicans in their fight for freedom, this would be likely, if not an absolute certainty -- the UDS was overstretched, and--
"Sir?" a crew member interrupted Klesjka's thoughts, stepping into the room. "Admiral Rizer needs you on the bridge as soon as possible."
"I suppose it's time?" He would respond, approaching the door, slowly. Doubt began to overcome him, even though his goals were near certain. Was the bloodshed worthwhile? Was it worth it? Thoughts were needing to be shaken from his head as he approached the comms screen in the bridge, standing as tall as his relatively short length would allow, cold determination hiding his fear.
"I am the diplomat of the Selenican Republic you will be negotiating with. On the behalf of my brothers and sisters, I am glad you finally ceased the violence, and opened talks."
Click
A piece clicked into place. Internal repair of the ship had slowed to a halt, both from reduced recourses onboard, and Lillian not wanting to provoke more fighting. She hated every moment of that battle, hated the sheer brutality of everything that happened, hated what was something so fundamentally against her programming, her base code, yet something so necessary. But... through all of it, there was something she knew she hated more, but she couldn't just... pin down what it was. It made her think, think about everything, but she couldn't recognize what it was.
Click
Her face was expressionless as she stared into the holographic screen, her movements being robotic, and yet sluggish. She was suppressing something inside of her, something that was nagging at her, something that she couldn't get out of her head. For a second. just a second, she looked at the holographic window in front of her seat, showing the vacuum. She immediately looked down to her monitor again, movements getting frantic and quicker. She could handle seeing debris of everything, but this wasn't about that.
It was what it represented.
She couldn't forgive right now, the debris represented something she hated, something that she tried to avoid, something that was only making her more and more frantic. She wanted everything to just end there, she wanted to stop, she wanted to just ignore it, but life didn't let her.
Click
Those debris represented her, and her failure as someone that was a force to help.
She didn't even realize her eyes were producing tears, something so subconscious that she just couldn't even realize their existence until she could feel the wetness on her suit. She sighed and turned off the body's ability to produce tears, wiping the ones that were already there. She needed to be formal, this was official negotiations.
"I am Lillian, diplomat, leader and citizen of Columen Artificialis, the only one. I come here to mediate, and to come to mediate talks. I am glad both sides have ceased the brutality of this conflict, and hope we can reach good terms. I remind you that any and all action committed in bad faith against the other will be reprimanded during the ceasefire. We shall commence."
She seemed... somewhat emotionally dead at the moment, her voice being strangely monotone, and yet kept the necessary tone of diplomacy and good faith. As the gears inside of her head turned and turned, she was slowly realizing what she was hating the most. at that moment.
Herself.
A piece clicked into place. Internal repair of the ship had slowed to a halt, both from reduced recourses onboard, and Lillian not wanting to provoke more fighting. She hated every moment of that battle, hated the sheer brutality of everything that happened, hated what was something so fundamentally against her programming, her base code, yet something so necessary. But... through all of it, there was something she knew she hated more, but she couldn't just... pin down what it was. It made her think, think about everything, but she couldn't recognize what it was.
Click
Her face was expressionless as she stared into the holographic screen, her movements being robotic, and yet sluggish. She was suppressing something inside of her, something that was nagging at her, something that she couldn't get out of her head. For a second. just a second, she looked at the holographic window in front of her seat, showing the vacuum. She immediately looked down to her monitor again, movements getting frantic and quicker. She could handle seeing debris of everything, but this wasn't about that.
It was what it represented.
She couldn't forgive right now, the debris represented something she hated, something that she tried to avoid, something that was only making her more and more frantic. She wanted everything to just end there, she wanted to stop, she wanted to just ignore it, but life didn't let her.
Click
Those debris represented her, and her failure as someone that was a force to help.
She didn't even realize her eyes were producing tears, something so subconscious that she just couldn't even realize their existence until she could feel the wetness on her suit. She sighed and turned off the body's ability to produce tears, wiping the ones that were already there. She needed to be formal, this was official negotiations.
"I am Lillian, diplomat, leader and citizen of Columen Artificialis, the only one. I come here to mediate, and to come to mediate talks. I am glad both sides have ceased the brutality of this conflict, and hope we can reach good terms. I remind you that any and all action committed in bad faith against the other will be reprimanded during the ceasefire. We shall commence."
She seemed... somewhat emotionally dead at the moment, her voice being strangely monotone, and yet kept the necessary tone of diplomacy and good faith. As the gears inside of her head turned and turned, she was slowly realizing what she was hating the most. at that moment.
Herself.
“Well they’ve rejected the offer for a in-person talk,” Uxbridge commented. The rest of the command staff were still in the comms centre. While their support was appreciated it was ultimately unneeded. They could be much more useful elsewhere.
Pyxis made this thought known, “Uxbridge. Stay with me. Everyone else, return to your stations. We must ensure that we are ready for immediate deployment should the worse come to worse. I will continue negotiations.”
There was little protest from his staff as they departed the centre, leaving him, Uxbridge, and the comms officers. The admiral sighed and spoke, “send a message to them- ask if live visual feed between us could be established. Now then, let me continue with my duty.”
As Pyxis prepared to speak his mind wandered to the battle. Thousands of sailors had died and while bodies could be replaced, their memories and personalities would be lost forever. He was aware that those higher up on the chain of command grew desensitised to the loss of life especially when trading for the greater good. It was a mindset that had haunted the UDS since its very foundation. Their very founder, Reinol von Lorica, had killed billions and irrevocably changed humanity to turn it into what it is today. And as a result of that change, many emulated him.
And to be honest, even he himself was among them. He knew that war could not be won without sacrifice. He knew that someone had to make the hard choice. And every serviceperson of the UDS knew what they were getting into when joining. After all, honesty was the one of main policies of the UDS. They did not cover the horror of war with false promises of honour or glory unlike others. No. War is simply a way to meet the interests of the nation.
So ultimately, Pyxis did not feel any self-loathing or sadness for the deaths of his troopers. Instead, he felt regret and shame for leading them to die in a worthless battle. After all, what was there to show? They were going to retreat which was the end result even if they had won. All that this battle did was cost lives. And that was the source of his inner turmoil.
“I wish we never got involved with these snakes…” He thought to himself. Then he sighed and spoke his message.
“Very well. I will make this prompt then. To avoid further loss of life, I will offer this as our first terms- we will depart from the station as soon as possible and then leave the system itself. Following that, we will begin preparations to depart from this sector and return home to the Tuvian Arm. As the overall commander of the expedition here, this effectively signifies our retreat and your victory.”
He let the words hang for a moment both for them and for himself. He saw a few eyes in the room turn his way but none judged him.
“From there, you are free to do what you wish. I personally recommend contacting the Overseer Council to negotiate a ceasefire and an end to all hostilities. These are the terms I present to end this battle.”
This of course could just be the beginning. He was hoping they would accept this but he was prepared to offer up more to ensure that the retreat could happen- even if it meant surrendering himself to Selenican custody.
Pyxis made this thought known, “Uxbridge. Stay with me. Everyone else, return to your stations. We must ensure that we are ready for immediate deployment should the worse come to worse. I will continue negotiations.”
There was little protest from his staff as they departed the centre, leaving him, Uxbridge, and the comms officers. The admiral sighed and spoke, “send a message to them- ask if live visual feed between us could be established. Now then, let me continue with my duty.”
As Pyxis prepared to speak his mind wandered to the battle. Thousands of sailors had died and while bodies could be replaced, their memories and personalities would be lost forever. He was aware that those higher up on the chain of command grew desensitised to the loss of life especially when trading for the greater good. It was a mindset that had haunted the UDS since its very foundation. Their very founder, Reinol von Lorica, had killed billions and irrevocably changed humanity to turn it into what it is today. And as a result of that change, many emulated him.
And to be honest, even he himself was among them. He knew that war could not be won without sacrifice. He knew that someone had to make the hard choice. And every serviceperson of the UDS knew what they were getting into when joining. After all, honesty was the one of main policies of the UDS. They did not cover the horror of war with false promises of honour or glory unlike others. No. War is simply a way to meet the interests of the nation.
So ultimately, Pyxis did not feel any self-loathing or sadness for the deaths of his troopers. Instead, he felt regret and shame for leading them to die in a worthless battle. After all, what was there to show? They were going to retreat which was the end result even if they had won. All that this battle did was cost lives. And that was the source of his inner turmoil.
“I wish we never got involved with these snakes…” He thought to himself. Then he sighed and spoke his message.
“Very well. I will make this prompt then. To avoid further loss of life, I will offer this as our first terms- we will depart from the station as soon as possible and then leave the system itself. Following that, we will begin preparations to depart from this sector and return home to the Tuvian Arm. As the overall commander of the expedition here, this effectively signifies our retreat and your victory.”
He let the words hang for a moment both for them and for himself. He saw a few eyes in the room turn his way but none judged him.
“From there, you are free to do what you wish. I personally recommend contacting the Overseer Council to negotiate a ceasefire and an end to all hostilities. These are the terms I present to end this battle.”
This of course could just be the beginning. He was hoping they would accept this but he was prepared to offer up more to ensure that the retreat could happen- even if it meant surrendering himself to Selenican custody.
"Praise be to the almighty..." the serpentine diplomat would say to himself, thankful that the UDS was being genuine in their approaches for talks.
"Term one accepted. However, we have a term to make of you. Whomever was responsible for the UDS excursion into the Anxios system, we demand them as a prisoner. They shall face trial within the Selenican Republic, with unbiased judges and arbiters, and they shall face punishment for their attack on a here-to peaceful system. We do not want every individual surviving soldier -- only those responsible for ordering the attack.
That ended the first terms demanded by the Selenican diplomat. Klesjka was shaking, skin running cold, whatever heat in the bridge not enough to stave off the stress and just how close he was to obtaining the freedom of his people, prepared to deliver the final words which would seal the Selenican's independence.
"Our next and final terms is that our nation, the Selenican Republic, be forever relinquished by the UDS as an independent nation, with its future for self-determination unhindered, our sacrifices not in vain."
He would send, the weight of the thousands of lives lost crushing Klesjka's shoulders. Whatever the UDS responds with, he could only pray it to be acceptance.
"Term one accepted. However, we have a term to make of you. Whomever was responsible for the UDS excursion into the Anxios system, we demand them as a prisoner. They shall face trial within the Selenican Republic, with unbiased judges and arbiters, and they shall face punishment for their attack on a here-to peaceful system. We do not want every individual surviving soldier -- only those responsible for ordering the attack.
That ended the first terms demanded by the Selenican diplomat. Klesjka was shaking, skin running cold, whatever heat in the bridge not enough to stave off the stress and just how close he was to obtaining the freedom of his people, prepared to deliver the final words which would seal the Selenican's independence.
"Our next and final terms is that our nation, the Selenican Republic, be forever relinquished by the UDS as an independent nation, with its future for self-determination unhindered, our sacrifices not in vain."
He would send, the weight of the thousands of lives lost crushing Klesjka's shoulders. Whatever the UDS responds with, he could only pray it to be acceptance.
Pyxis sighed. He knew that it would come to this. While those two terms offered were reasonable it still hurt to answer them, “I was the one who gave instructions Commodore Calbraith to launch the assault under my own orders from the Overseer Council. And if you wish to detain Calbraith then I am afraid he was slain during the skirmish there.”
The next term had a few of his officers shaking their heads in exasperation, “do they really think we have the authority to grant their independence?” Maitland muttered angrily. Pyxis internally agreed but decided to be polite for the sake of getting this over with.
“I do not have the authority to issue such a promise. I am only a rear admiral. I am not a democratically elected government official of the union. I can only submit this demand to the Overseer Council upon our arrival home. It will be up to them. Though truth be told, I don’t think you need our approval to be independent.” Indeed, even if the UDS ultimately denied them there would be nothing short of actually invading that can be done. He was willing to bet that even if the request was denied nothing would be done about it. There simply would just be a ceasefire between their two nations until it finally broke.
The next term had a few of his officers shaking their heads in exasperation, “do they really think we have the authority to grant their independence?” Maitland muttered angrily. Pyxis internally agreed but decided to be polite for the sake of getting this over with.
“I do not have the authority to issue such a promise. I am only a rear admiral. I am not a democratically elected government official of the union. I can only submit this demand to the Overseer Council upon our arrival home. It will be up to them. Though truth be told, I don’t think you need our approval to be independent.” Indeed, even if the UDS ultimately denied them there would be nothing short of actually invading that can be done. He was willing to bet that even if the request was denied nothing would be done about it. There simply would just be a ceasefire between their two nations until it finally broke.
First articles of the ceasefire were easy enough to hash out, and it pleased Klesjka and the Republic at large greatly that the man who attacked his people was now nothing more than dust floating about in the vacuum of space.
"If you cannot guarantee our independence here, I would advise you to make the case very, very well to the Overseer Council. However, we can and will accept a ceasefire here. Any prisoners we have of UDS soldiers will be handed back over to your sovereignty, and several rescue ships will be appearing in the system in due time, to try and find any survivors amongst the wreckage. You are welcome to assist in these efforts, or you can retreat quickly and quietly. The choice is yours."
It seems this really was the end, Klesjka thought to himself, elated beyond words as jubilation erupted across the rest of the fleet, they were finally independent, their nation remaining untamed, as a live broadcast of the terms were shared out. It was a short and very curt affair, with the pragmatic objectives being sent out by the Selenican president not seeking to win any rewards from their colonizers, only their independence and a ceasefire. While the first objective would be delayed by bureaucratic red tape, in all practical terms, the Selenican Republic and all its citizens were free. The sacrifice of those who came on this voyage would not be in vain.
"If you cannot guarantee our independence here, I would advise you to make the case very, very well to the Overseer Council. However, we can and will accept a ceasefire here. Any prisoners we have of UDS soldiers will be handed back over to your sovereignty, and several rescue ships will be appearing in the system in due time, to try and find any survivors amongst the wreckage. You are welcome to assist in these efforts, or you can retreat quickly and quietly. The choice is yours."
It seems this really was the end, Klesjka thought to himself, elated beyond words as jubilation erupted across the rest of the fleet, they were finally independent, their nation remaining untamed, as a live broadcast of the terms were shared out. It was a short and very curt affair, with the pragmatic objectives being sent out by the Selenican president not seeking to win any rewards from their colonizers, only their independence and a ceasefire. While the first objective would be delayed by bureaucratic red tape, in all practical terms, the Selenican Republic and all its citizens were free. The sacrifice of those who came on this voyage would not be in vain.