Post by Sheng on May 14, 2023 20:41:26 GMT
Unmar Expanse, Just Outside Second Dawn Space
2 years. It had been a scarce 2 years since the UDS arrived into the SR's home system of Anxios, changing the order of the day forever. Thought the captain of the Daybringer-Class Cruiser, an aged man serving his country, slowly sailing along the minor tachyon currents around the Second Dawn escorting a convoy to them. His "convoy" consisted of 3 behemoth 80 kilometer long cargo ships, completely defenseless in a fight but surprisingly fast given their job description, his own vessel, a heavily armed cruiser with Imaginese lasers and Selenican tachyons, a marriage of the two technologies, and a Marzana-Class Destroyer, captained by his son. It should have been a simple mission -- while the Second Dawn had spouted much anti-native rhetoric of late, and short threats to the exportation of body armor to the SR had been quenched, they had shown no previous signs of aggression to the serpents.
"Sir, we're spotting several SD ships. We think they're warships." A bridgehand mentions to the aged captain.
"Who wouldn't be using warships during this time?" he'd reply, the vast numbers of the SD being easy to spot vessels. "Pay them no mind."
The several cargo vessels were escorted on either flank by either the cruiser or destroyer, the cargo ships in a triangular formation with the two escorts on either side.
"Still, why would they be patrolling a quiet sector like this?" the bridgehand would ask, keeping communications channels open in case the ships attempted to hail them.
"That's my question as well." the aged captain would reply. "Open a communications channel with them, make sure they know who we are."
"Yes sir."
A brief orange flash would go through the bridge as a holographic projection was blasted against the back wall of the bridge, with the cruiser's captain opening a transmission to the SD vessels.
Greetings. We are a trade convoy from the Selenican Republic, and we mean no aggression. Peace be to you."
Sheng [Second Dawn]
The FNCV “Volatile”. An Arkadia class battlecruiser that was recently renovated which had just concluded a training exercise nearby and had taken a select number of other vessels out for a time-burning patrol. What was unexpected however was when they actually encountered other vessels, signatures reading as Selenican with high confidence, this was only further confirmed by the casual hail flung towards them. The Captain of the “Volatile” was staring at the crewman’s console which displayed the trade convoy with barely contained bloodlust, ever since the green light for interceptions on CONA aligned vessels he’d been itching for a fight.
This was a fact that the crew was both aware of and concerned about, but unfortunately for them the Captain’s in the other vessels were of a similar mind. The Second Dawn patrol was large indeed, consisting of a Havalen, Arkadia, three Horizons and an ALV.
The Captain of the “Volatile” let out a robotic hiss before he moved back to the centre of the bridge, seething the entire time. He was sick of the pacifism, the diplomacy, the need for kindness. He had been one of the lucky few to have served in the Restorationist wars, fighting for the Republic for what truly mattered. This could not stand, he would do his council proud. The crew grew tense as he became visibly agitated before he snapped around and barked out an order “RAISE SHIELDS, SET TO CONDITION ZERO. OPEN A COMMUNICATIONS LINE!”
The crew hastily obeyed and after a minute the Captain spoke, his words being sent to the ship that had originally communicated with him. “Selenican convoy, you have violated a standing order of the Second Dawn. Power down and prepare for capture or be fired upon. Your treachery will be tolerated no longer, glory to the Second Dawn. Siœs Betïlda Armäni.”
Ana (SR) (CONA)
"Hmf. Stubborn." the aged captain would say, deeply unsatisfied with this turn of events. "I want reactors on full power, activate the wing radiators, and prepare the tachyon shielding. We're going to need to hold them off from the convoy as much as possible."
"Aye, Sir." the bridgehand would reply, deeply shaken by the prospect that combat would befall this simplistic mission.
"Open a channel back home. We're telling them of the SD attacking us here. Get the data out, stat!" the captain's son would shout, boisterous and brash much unlike his father, to his crew onboard the destroyer on the right flank. "Point us in the direction of the SD, I don't want them getting ideas. Ready tachyon lances!"
After a short delay, a communications channel was opened between the two warships.
"Son."
"Yes, father?"
"Follow my orders here. Our goal is to keep these freighters alive. I've already ordered them to turn tail and book it for the edge of the interdiction zone, and we'll need to fight a rear-guard action."
"With all due respect, Father, we're going to need to tie down the SD vessels. With all of our to-date knowledge on them, lacking it may be, they seem to be much inferior to ours."
"It's confidence like that which will get you killed! We need to be cautious here."
The communication between the two would cease, inter-ship communications to be kept to a minimum.
The hulking freighters were powering their turning thrusters with all their power to bank hard to their starboard side, away from the incoming Second Dawn, to make it home.
A bright orange flash was sent forth from the Selenican cruiser and destroyer in a blaze of tachyonic particles and fire, primarily targeting the Arkadia-Class, aimed directly for its center of mass. It was an unknown of where the reactor was, but where there be radiators, there likely be a system using them.
Another bright flash was seen from the Selenican ships, their wing-mounted radiators bursting with light as the hulking engines of the ships, far less than half the size of even the smallest SD vessel, burst forth.
Sheng [Second Dawn]
The Captain of the “Volatile” was about to order a weapons lock before the ship shook like it had just done a drive by past a black hole, various consoles started flashing red warning lights and the Captain stumbled and had to steady himself as his audio processors suddenly went silent. After a few seconds his hearing returned and he could hear the various alarms blaring inside of the bridge and crewman scrambling around shouting information to each other whilst some were turned to the Captain. Once his hearing fully returned he could finally make out what they were saying, the closest one saying: “-ir! We suffered two direct hits, frontal armour plating is completely destroyed and shield fuses were blown out! What are your orders?!”
The Captain stumbled again as he made his way to the nearest console and looked at it, the information was accurate. The first beam had eviscerated their shielding leaving the remaining beams to turn the front external armour into what looked like melted chocolate, some of the frontal components had also been disabled. He thought for a second before he turned back to him and said “Fuck the components, get DCT’s to the shielding system and have the blown fuses replaced immediately and disable safety restrictions. Send a transmission back to sectorial command indicating that we have entered combat with a Selenican convoy, then acquire weapons lock and fire everything we fuckin’ got!”
The crewman nodded before turning around and shouting the Captain’s orders out to various crewmen who immediately started typing away on their consoles and such. Meanwhile the missile bays on the Arkadia locked themselves open and a plethora of anti-ship missiles started slowly ascending above the ship. The missiles the Arkadia deployed each then gave off a slight burst of radiation as their warheads were armed and they used their RCS to turn towards the Selenican destroyer, firing off towards it in small little bursts of blue light. The massive mass-driver turrets of the Arkadia slowly rotated around to face the Selenican Cruiser as they did so, thermonuclear shells loading themselves as it locked a targeting path to it. A quarter of a second later each turret fired in rapid succession towards it.
The Havalen Class & the three Horizon Class’ followed suit shortly after, each one firing their own salvo of missiles at both of the Selenican ships followed by a salvo of kinetic shells, some being nuclear tipped but others were armour-piercing. Once the ships had fired off their weapons various transmissions could be detected bouncing from the ship all to one specific point further back into Federal space, at the same time a bright orange shimmer flickered around the Arkadia as the shielding system booted back up again and gave a quick test-wave to ensure it actually worked.
Ana (SR) (CONA)
"All guns, knock as many missiles down as possible! Shield the cargo ships!" the father would say, the automated point defense turrets spinning to face the oncoming swarm of missiles. "Knock as many down as you can! Keep tachyonic dispersors on high alert, be prepared to activate-"
A missile sent earlier than the rest hit the ship earlier than expected, point defense guns seemingly blind to its approach. Striking towards the bow of the cruiser, primarily crew and armor were struck, but so were the coolant tanks for one of the main Imaginese lasers mounted onto the spine of the vessel. A flash of yellow and orange light would blow outward from the impact site, the blackened exterior of armor ruining the once-pristine exterior coat which adorned every Selenican vessel.
Power would be cut to the bridge for a moment, before systems came back online.
"Report! Damage report! Son, launch torpedoes! Fire lasers, we need to buy time!"
"Sir! Torpedoes still need time to ready, the antimatter warheads are being removed from containment!" a bridgehand would yell to his captain.
"Damnit, ready shields, and point defense! Cut bearing to the starboard side!"
With the wings of radiative dust spewed out glowing brighter and brighter, both destroyer and cruiser would turn hard into the oncoming missile fire to bring more point defense guns to bear, the magnetic cannons humming and vibrating, ready to sling out rounds upon rounds.
SD missiles would reach the kill-zone of the point defense, but instead of firing, a bright orange flash would engulf the field of battle around the cruiser and destroyer apiece as the FTL particles which made up the backbone of Selenican technology would be slowed to visible speeds, destroying roughly half of the salvo before it dissipated, blinding any visual sensors of the SD vessels locked onto the Selenican ships. Whatever missiles were left were to be mostly shot down, detonating their nuclear payloads far too close for comfort for those which contained them, the other missiles detonating safely away.
However, those which struck the ships would detonate, the conflagration of tachyonic turret fire, point defense, plasma bolts shooting futilely at the too-close missiles being almost too much. Several turrets and even a torpedo chamber of the destroyer would be sent into critical damage, repair crews hardly able to keep fires from spreading within even with the cutting of oxygen once crew was evacuated and damage control teams would take their place.
"SHIT!" the captain's son would yell, receiving numerous damage reports all at once all over the ship, his internal temperature rising rapidly as he could not dissapate the heat fast enough. Time was ticking, and the torpedoes couldn't be ready soon enough.
Sheng [Second Dawn]
The Captain of the Arkadia watched the console as several spikes in gamma radiation flared on the console, slamming his fist down on it in excitement before his attitude turned back to rage at the discovery that they had survived the attack and temporarily de-locked their optical sensors. He whipped around and shouted to a crewman “Get that fucking lock back on the ship or we’ll be sent back home in caskets! Begin reloading the mass driver turrets and flood launch tubes with coolant to prepare for another salvo, in the mean time engage close-kinetic weaponry with chemical dispersion munitions! Gas the fuckers in their own ships!”
The patrol did exactly as ordered, with the various turrets beginning the painfully slow process of reloading new shells and flooding the torpedo and missile tubes with coolant so that new projectiles could be safely loaded and launched once again. As this happened the various smaller turrets on the ship disconnected internal belts and connected new ones; kinetic projectiles with a twist, they had internal compartments containing a highly potent nerve agent. The design itself was sadistic, a shell made to embed into a vessel and explode dispersing the lethal chemical gas and toxic shrapnel throughout a vessel’s interior. Even if they were intercepted the contaminated shrapnel would still pose a threat if it managed to pierce through any light armour plating or impact near exposed personnel.
These munitions were loaded into the smaller calibre turrets on the ships and after half a second the various weapon systems began pelting the rounds down towards the Selenican ships like an angry sandstorm of agonized death. The engagement designed to keep the Selenican ships busy while they reloaded their primary weapons… but would the attempt be successful? That was the big question, wasn’t it.
Ana (SR) (CONA)
"More munitions, coming in! Secondary fire, sir!" a bridgehand would shout towards the captain, his ship already pulling massively overstretched combat performance, the newly installed radiators modeled after the Noviy's designs flashing ever-closer to blinding white, the reactor being spun into overdrive more and more, engine power climbing more and more, as the ship was reaching its limits. Tachyonic arrows would loose their dreadful sparks yet again, aimed directly for the battlecruiser with the Imaginese lasers assisting with ablative pulses towards whatever escorts their limited ranges of traverse could aim them towards.
"I want that damn battleship down, FAST! We've already hit it hard, just one more-" he would begin to reply, interrupted by an emergency comm from his son's vessel.
"What is it son?!" He'd shout, ignoring all protocol as the destroyer banked hard to the left, presenting a full-frontal barrage to the SD vessels -- the most dangerous position against the Selenicans.
"Antimatter torpedoes loaded! Target locked, launching....NOW!!!!" He'd reply, the hatches encasing the terrible devices being wrenched open, nearly sheared off, and twenty anti-ship torpedoes, guided agents of Death himself, engaging their first stage -- acceleration towards the SD vessels. Five would head for the Arkadia, with an even spread among the rest of the ships. Launched with the torpedoes were 60 dummy missiles, loaded with relatively unimportant charges to serve as more fodder for the SD to shoot at and draw attention away from the torpedoes.
And yet, despite the loosing of munitions capable of bringing near any vessel to its knees, so too would the Selenican vessels suffer damage. In the damaged sectors of the destroyer, any damage control teams sent in to quench the fires before they grew too large were quickly snuffed out by a hideous infection, near instantly causing the multiple hearts of the serpents to stop, and death to soon follow. The Selenicans had known generations without such hideous and vile weapons of war, but war never truly stops being barbaric and cruel, and it seemed the SD knew that better then they had as the nerve-agent infused carrier munitions turned the entire damaged sector of the destroyer into a zone of instant demise, a miasma of the reaper hanging over the heavily damaged area, a bulkhead closing just too soon trapping several teams out to perish in its wake.
While the battle was occurring, the lack of focus from SD vessels had allowed the lumbering cargo ships to make haste for the edge of the interdiction field, to which they were approaching with their hulking mass and great inertia carrying them forward as the battle blinded any onlookers.
Sheng [Second Dawn]
The Captain of the Arkadia watched as the blinding flashes occurred once more, they grabbed ahold of the nearest rail as the ship lurched at the impact of the various tachyonic arrows and Imaginese lasers. The shields held fast for some but eventually fell from the overwhelming onslaught. The initial volley of Tachyons finally piercing the exterior armour of the Arkadia allowing the lasers to rip through the ship's internals, alarm bells beginning to blare in the bridge as several major components were incinerated and the ship's fusion reactor plating slammed shut into emergency containment mode.
The Captain looked up after the onslaught and screamed out "DAMAGE REPORT!" to which a nearby crewman stared at their console for half a second before turning around and shouting "Sir! The shielding system is completely destroyed, decks one through nine suffered catastrop- Multiple torpedoes inbound! Activate point defence network!" Several crewman whipped to other consoles and slammed on orange buttons, with the surviving PDT's on the Arkadia's hull snapping to life and aiming towards the AM turrets, letting loose an absolute rain of intercepting fire.. But the Arkadia's sensors were too damaged, the decoys too overwhelming. The Captain screamed to initiate evasive maneuvers, but the reactor was in emergency containment and the thrusters weren't responding.
The Captain stared at the incoming projectiles and made to say abandon ship before the first torpedo impacted the hull. In a brilliant flare of blue and white light, temporarily blinding the optical sensors of nearby SD ships. Once the vessels had recovered they looked onward to the Arkadia's position...
Only to see a charred field of debris surrounding a barely recognizable vessel that was cracked in half near the middle. The FNCV "Volatile" had been completely, and utterly destroyed. The first lost the SD's navy had suffered in the Ancerious Galaxy.
The "Volatile's" PDT fire however had lessened up the decoy swarm, allowing the other ships to take rapid action, and most were able to intercept the remaining torpedoes heading their way. However, one unlucky horizon had a computing malfunction and it too was pulverized by a Selenican torpedo with the entire front portion of the ship vaporized by it. A few scant escape pods managing to launch away moments later to the rear.
The Captain of the "Honourable", the Havalen Class vessel, watched in horror at the destruction the Selenican's were delivering to the patrol and how the remaining vessels were barely holding up. He shook in fear before he turned to a crewman next to him a solemn tone and said "The Battlegroup commander has been KIA, I am assuming immediate operational command effective immediately. Link in the other ships to our communications network and relay this information. In addition, I have determined that we are unable to presently defend ourselves adequately. I am authorizing a delta alert, hand me the keycard." The Crewman hastily reached down and pulled a rectangular black card out of his pouch and handed it to him, the Captain shakingly taking it.
The Captain immediately turned around and walked back towards the holo-map room, entering and immediately proceeding to the back left corner of the room where a black box with a slot on the front was. He inserted the keycard into the slot and lifted the box up with a click, revealing an aged red phone that was linked with the ship's communication systems. He pressed a few buttons on a keypad attached to the phone and held it up to his head. After a second he said in a shaky voice "This is Captain Ereboros of the FNSV Valiant, we are under Delta Alert and have lost the ability to defend ourselves. Position is S-X-9-3-3-8-0-1-1. We are requesting immediate deployment of a red package." After a second a disgruntled voice responded "This is Archon-6. Request granted, red package inbound."
Arkehold System, New Archon, Restricted Province #A-9, Citadel Federal Navy Port.
It was night when the order was received, the crew of the FNCV "Tenebrous" was to immediately begin launch procedure and assist the rogue patrol that had found itself under Selenican crosshairs. But this ship was different, clad in dark blue alloy armour with menacing jagged turrets emitting a dark blue glow. No, this ship was unlike any that the Second Dawn had deployed in a long while. It was a ship designed for pure combat, a titan of war and destruction, a ship that renounced life itself, an.. Apostate.. to peace.
The FNCV "Tenebrous" was an operational prototype Apostate Class Dreadnought, 13.2 kilometres long and armed with the Second Dawn's newly re-introduced laser warfare systems, and it had just been given it's first mission.
The "Tenebrous'" fusion torch drives roared to life with a bright blue flare as it began to raise itself off the ground, a deep and dark hum filling the air for kilometres around as it began to ascend into the sky. Although it would be quite some time until it arrived to it's destination, it was most certainly on the way...
Ana (SR) (CONA)
"TWO ENEMY VESSELS, DOWN!" a bridgeman would yell, and excited cheers would erupt on the bridge of the Daybringer-Class.
"Son, good call." The father would tell his subordinate. "We've no more duty here. We've sent the message needed -- we're retreating."
"Father?!" the son would reply, baffled at his father's choice. "We've the advantage! We have the pressure! They've lost their heaviest hitter, we're under little threat, why would we retreat from victory?!" The anger in his voice mirrored by the displeased noises on his destroyer's bridge, and confusion from that onboard his father's ship as well.
"These are not who we're at war with! We attacked first, our cargo ships have long since jumped from the system. We've succeeded. We needn't risk our lives or the lives of our subordinates to chase meaningless glory. You're aware of what Selia does to those who risk the lives of sailors needlessly, I fear for your life if we stay! And whose to say reinforcements aren't coming!?" the father would reply, aggressively defensive as ever.
His son would briefly consider his father's words, the red mist of anger coming over his view and thoughts. His ship was damaged, yes, but not beyond repair. He still had missiles, his torpedoes would need some time to be reloaded yes, but they still had munitions in reserve. However, the ships were dangerously close to overheating, their radiators glowing with white light, the tachyonic batteries of the vessels nearly having melted their barrels. Several of the Imaginese-purchased lasers were only maintaining operation by sheer force of will it seemed, and nearly every defensive measure of the ships were exhausted.
"Father. I cannot allow a decisive victory to slip through. We will not be remembered for being the cowards who fled, we will be remembered as heroes!"
The comms channel between the two ships was severed, with the Marzana-Class Destroyer speeding ahead of the Daybringer-Class, which began to fall behind.
--
"It seems he wishes for death..." the father would painfully speak, knowing that his son was essentially signing an execution warrant. Their ships were too exhausted to continue battle, and now, the Daybringer would be too damaged and its munitions expended to save his son. If only they surrendered...
"Damn traitor. When I win this, he'll be facing a court marshal." the father's son would speak, deluded into the "success" they had achieved. "Focus the smaller ships first, I want as many kills as possible! All remaining VLS cells, refresh your stocks, we're going to kill some of these bastards."
With this declaration, the son's destroyer would charge nearer to a stray SD ship, farther from the formation than the rest, with its point defenses and shield heavily exhausted.
--
The father's cruiser would begin to bank away from the battlefield, knowing now there was nothing to be done; it was his son's authority over the vessel to use it however he saw fit in a combat engagement. Any attempt at opening communications channels were instantly rejected by the destroyer. He would be caught in stunned silence while the second-in-command took over the ship for a time, the gall of his son to assume automatic superiority in combat?! And his son...his son would be dead. And it matters not how much he fights, the reaper which had taken many of the SD sailors would do the same for his son. Is this is punishment for not surrendering? Is this divine judgement? Nothing was to be done, now, and all that was left was to await the inevitable snuffing out of the ship from the tachyonic array, and with that, the lives of hundreds of men.
Sheng [Second Dawn]
The remaining patrol vessels remained completely motionless, they made no move to enter evasive maneuvers or even close the distance and fire upon the ship themselves. This in it of itself should be a dire warning to anyone with even a modicum of tactical intelligence; for it meant that they saw no need to do anything. That they were so sure of victory that they had neither desire to attack or fear to defend themselves, they just sat there and awaited what was to come. And come it did, gravimetric sensors belonging to both nations would start crackling with a sudden burst of activity. The signature was low at first but then seemingly out of nowhere it skyrocketed as if a black hole had opened up right in front of them, the readings would be incomprehensible but unluckily for the arrogant son this would soon be explained.
All of a sudden a crackle of energy appeared in front of the patrol of Second Dawn ships, and then? Judgement appeared. A ship unlike any of the others materialized, with thick indigo plating and massive black jagged turrets that were already swivelling around to face the Son’s ship. It was easily the biggest of the SD’s ships there, dwarfing over the Havalen Class- it had to be nearly 15 kilometres long! Even the SD sailors were shocked at it’s appearance, expecting regular reinforcements not whatever this monster was. Some of the patrol’s turrets began to swivel to the new ship before their respective Captain’s saw what was painted on either side of it’s bridge: The Symbol of the Second Dawn, and next to it was the round emblem of SAGA.
The “Tenebrous” hailed all of the Selenican’s ships but did not allow for replies, a deeply robotic voice spoke. “This is the FNCV Tenebrous of the Executive Protection Agencies’ Federal Navy. Take heart that you will be the first to die to the new flagship of the Federal Navy, and that you will be used as examples for the rest of the galaxy; that our justice is to be feared and respected, for the Second Dawn has never known defeat…”
And with that statement, every single ship except for the Tenebrous unleashed a volley of nuclear munitions. From Mass Driver shells to anti-ship missiles to torpedoes, if it was loaded then it was fired. The Tenebrous’ own turrets beginning to charge up for their own volley.
Ana (SR) (CONA)
There were no words for the destruction which followed after this transmission from the Second Dawn. The aged captain only watched on with a dark grimace, knowing he could not interfere, as his son's vessel was pelted from all sides by nuclear munitions, missiles, torpedoes, and every other munition launched towards the hopelessly outmatched Selenican ship. Its point defenses were impossibly overwhelmed, shields even when given top reactor priority couldn't hold back the onslaught. It was nigh-instantly disintegrated into a wreck of metal and the ash of every sailor aboard, the only remaining relic of what the destroyer once was was a single, small tachyon turret which had made it through the attack through sheer luck.
"Captain..." a bridgehand would ask, not too soon. "We've reached the edge of their interdiction range."
"Leave this forsaken place." He would order, cold and distant, choking on his words. Not once looking away from the UV monitor which he used to view the carnage. "We've achieved our goals. We will leave in haste."
With that order, a brief flash of light would be viewed by the Second Dawn, as the warp drive of the Selenican ship spun up and left, the rapidly depleting ancerium stocks aboard hardly getting the ship out of range.
Sheng [Second Dawn]
The "Tenebrous" watched as the fleet ripped apart the hasty destroyer, a single individual clad in a fine black coat with a simple peaked cap stood on the dreadnought's top observation deck staring out into the destruction as a few blips of light appeared out in the expanse of space. A few seconds later a voice said over comms "Admiral, the Selenican vessels have retreated. We have won."
The Admiral chuckled before reaching up and pressing two fingers to the side of his head, silencing the comms as he watched the debris field idly float around in the cold vacuum of space. After his chuckle died down he reached down and pressed a button on the console in-front of them before saying in an amused tone "Attention Crew, return to normal duties and prepare for the return voyage. We have successfully forced the Selenicans from the system, raise back up to condition five."
And so they had won, but at what cost? An Arkadia Class had been destroyed and they had been the aggressors of this conflict, which could make international news if the Selenicans chose to publicize the news and paint them in a negative light instead of covering the engagement up. Alas, the consequences would be something else for both of them. The Admiral tapped his fingers against his thigh as the shutters to the observation deck started to close and the Second Dawn ships began to re-orient themselves in preparation for FTL travel.
The Admiral whistled as he walked toward the exit, singing quietly to himself as he exited the room...
2 years. It had been a scarce 2 years since the UDS arrived into the SR's home system of Anxios, changing the order of the day forever. Thought the captain of the Daybringer-Class Cruiser, an aged man serving his country, slowly sailing along the minor tachyon currents around the Second Dawn escorting a convoy to them. His "convoy" consisted of 3 behemoth 80 kilometer long cargo ships, completely defenseless in a fight but surprisingly fast given their job description, his own vessel, a heavily armed cruiser with Imaginese lasers and Selenican tachyons, a marriage of the two technologies, and a Marzana-Class Destroyer, captained by his son. It should have been a simple mission -- while the Second Dawn had spouted much anti-native rhetoric of late, and short threats to the exportation of body armor to the SR had been quenched, they had shown no previous signs of aggression to the serpents.
"Sir, we're spotting several SD ships. We think they're warships." A bridgehand mentions to the aged captain.
"Who wouldn't be using warships during this time?" he'd reply, the vast numbers of the SD being easy to spot vessels. "Pay them no mind."
The several cargo vessels were escorted on either flank by either the cruiser or destroyer, the cargo ships in a triangular formation with the two escorts on either side.
"Still, why would they be patrolling a quiet sector like this?" the bridgehand would ask, keeping communications channels open in case the ships attempted to hail them.
"That's my question as well." the aged captain would reply. "Open a communications channel with them, make sure they know who we are."
"Yes sir."
A brief orange flash would go through the bridge as a holographic projection was blasted against the back wall of the bridge, with the cruiser's captain opening a transmission to the SD vessels.
Greetings. We are a trade convoy from the Selenican Republic, and we mean no aggression. Peace be to you."
Sheng [Second Dawn]
The FNCV “Volatile”. An Arkadia class battlecruiser that was recently renovated which had just concluded a training exercise nearby and had taken a select number of other vessels out for a time-burning patrol. What was unexpected however was when they actually encountered other vessels, signatures reading as Selenican with high confidence, this was only further confirmed by the casual hail flung towards them. The Captain of the “Volatile” was staring at the crewman’s console which displayed the trade convoy with barely contained bloodlust, ever since the green light for interceptions on CONA aligned vessels he’d been itching for a fight.
This was a fact that the crew was both aware of and concerned about, but unfortunately for them the Captain’s in the other vessels were of a similar mind. The Second Dawn patrol was large indeed, consisting of a Havalen, Arkadia, three Horizons and an ALV.
The Captain of the “Volatile” let out a robotic hiss before he moved back to the centre of the bridge, seething the entire time. He was sick of the pacifism, the diplomacy, the need for kindness. He had been one of the lucky few to have served in the Restorationist wars, fighting for the Republic for what truly mattered. This could not stand, he would do his council proud. The crew grew tense as he became visibly agitated before he snapped around and barked out an order “RAISE SHIELDS, SET TO CONDITION ZERO. OPEN A COMMUNICATIONS LINE!”
The crew hastily obeyed and after a minute the Captain spoke, his words being sent to the ship that had originally communicated with him. “Selenican convoy, you have violated a standing order of the Second Dawn. Power down and prepare for capture or be fired upon. Your treachery will be tolerated no longer, glory to the Second Dawn. Siœs Betïlda Armäni.”
Ana (SR) (CONA)
"Hmf. Stubborn." the aged captain would say, deeply unsatisfied with this turn of events. "I want reactors on full power, activate the wing radiators, and prepare the tachyon shielding. We're going to need to hold them off from the convoy as much as possible."
"Aye, Sir." the bridgehand would reply, deeply shaken by the prospect that combat would befall this simplistic mission.
"Open a channel back home. We're telling them of the SD attacking us here. Get the data out, stat!" the captain's son would shout, boisterous and brash much unlike his father, to his crew onboard the destroyer on the right flank. "Point us in the direction of the SD, I don't want them getting ideas. Ready tachyon lances!"
After a short delay, a communications channel was opened between the two warships.
"Son."
"Yes, father?"
"Follow my orders here. Our goal is to keep these freighters alive. I've already ordered them to turn tail and book it for the edge of the interdiction zone, and we'll need to fight a rear-guard action."
"With all due respect, Father, we're going to need to tie down the SD vessels. With all of our to-date knowledge on them, lacking it may be, they seem to be much inferior to ours."
"It's confidence like that which will get you killed! We need to be cautious here."
The communication between the two would cease, inter-ship communications to be kept to a minimum.
The hulking freighters were powering their turning thrusters with all their power to bank hard to their starboard side, away from the incoming Second Dawn, to make it home.
A bright orange flash was sent forth from the Selenican cruiser and destroyer in a blaze of tachyonic particles and fire, primarily targeting the Arkadia-Class, aimed directly for its center of mass. It was an unknown of where the reactor was, but where there be radiators, there likely be a system using them.
Another bright flash was seen from the Selenican ships, their wing-mounted radiators bursting with light as the hulking engines of the ships, far less than half the size of even the smallest SD vessel, burst forth.
Sheng [Second Dawn]
The Captain of the “Volatile” was about to order a weapons lock before the ship shook like it had just done a drive by past a black hole, various consoles started flashing red warning lights and the Captain stumbled and had to steady himself as his audio processors suddenly went silent. After a few seconds his hearing returned and he could hear the various alarms blaring inside of the bridge and crewman scrambling around shouting information to each other whilst some were turned to the Captain. Once his hearing fully returned he could finally make out what they were saying, the closest one saying: “-ir! We suffered two direct hits, frontal armour plating is completely destroyed and shield fuses were blown out! What are your orders?!”
The Captain stumbled again as he made his way to the nearest console and looked at it, the information was accurate. The first beam had eviscerated their shielding leaving the remaining beams to turn the front external armour into what looked like melted chocolate, some of the frontal components had also been disabled. He thought for a second before he turned back to him and said “Fuck the components, get DCT’s to the shielding system and have the blown fuses replaced immediately and disable safety restrictions. Send a transmission back to sectorial command indicating that we have entered combat with a Selenican convoy, then acquire weapons lock and fire everything we fuckin’ got!”
The crewman nodded before turning around and shouting the Captain’s orders out to various crewmen who immediately started typing away on their consoles and such. Meanwhile the missile bays on the Arkadia locked themselves open and a plethora of anti-ship missiles started slowly ascending above the ship. The missiles the Arkadia deployed each then gave off a slight burst of radiation as their warheads were armed and they used their RCS to turn towards the Selenican destroyer, firing off towards it in small little bursts of blue light. The massive mass-driver turrets of the Arkadia slowly rotated around to face the Selenican Cruiser as they did so, thermonuclear shells loading themselves as it locked a targeting path to it. A quarter of a second later each turret fired in rapid succession towards it.
The Havalen Class & the three Horizon Class’ followed suit shortly after, each one firing their own salvo of missiles at both of the Selenican ships followed by a salvo of kinetic shells, some being nuclear tipped but others were armour-piercing. Once the ships had fired off their weapons various transmissions could be detected bouncing from the ship all to one specific point further back into Federal space, at the same time a bright orange shimmer flickered around the Arkadia as the shielding system booted back up again and gave a quick test-wave to ensure it actually worked.
Ana (SR) (CONA)
"All guns, knock as many missiles down as possible! Shield the cargo ships!" the father would say, the automated point defense turrets spinning to face the oncoming swarm of missiles. "Knock as many down as you can! Keep tachyonic dispersors on high alert, be prepared to activate-"
A missile sent earlier than the rest hit the ship earlier than expected, point defense guns seemingly blind to its approach. Striking towards the bow of the cruiser, primarily crew and armor were struck, but so were the coolant tanks for one of the main Imaginese lasers mounted onto the spine of the vessel. A flash of yellow and orange light would blow outward from the impact site, the blackened exterior of armor ruining the once-pristine exterior coat which adorned every Selenican vessel.
Power would be cut to the bridge for a moment, before systems came back online.
"Report! Damage report! Son, launch torpedoes! Fire lasers, we need to buy time!"
"Sir! Torpedoes still need time to ready, the antimatter warheads are being removed from containment!" a bridgehand would yell to his captain.
"Damnit, ready shields, and point defense! Cut bearing to the starboard side!"
With the wings of radiative dust spewed out glowing brighter and brighter, both destroyer and cruiser would turn hard into the oncoming missile fire to bring more point defense guns to bear, the magnetic cannons humming and vibrating, ready to sling out rounds upon rounds.
SD missiles would reach the kill-zone of the point defense, but instead of firing, a bright orange flash would engulf the field of battle around the cruiser and destroyer apiece as the FTL particles which made up the backbone of Selenican technology would be slowed to visible speeds, destroying roughly half of the salvo before it dissipated, blinding any visual sensors of the SD vessels locked onto the Selenican ships. Whatever missiles were left were to be mostly shot down, detonating their nuclear payloads far too close for comfort for those which contained them, the other missiles detonating safely away.
However, those which struck the ships would detonate, the conflagration of tachyonic turret fire, point defense, plasma bolts shooting futilely at the too-close missiles being almost too much. Several turrets and even a torpedo chamber of the destroyer would be sent into critical damage, repair crews hardly able to keep fires from spreading within even with the cutting of oxygen once crew was evacuated and damage control teams would take their place.
"SHIT!" the captain's son would yell, receiving numerous damage reports all at once all over the ship, his internal temperature rising rapidly as he could not dissapate the heat fast enough. Time was ticking, and the torpedoes couldn't be ready soon enough.
Sheng [Second Dawn]
The Captain of the Arkadia watched the console as several spikes in gamma radiation flared on the console, slamming his fist down on it in excitement before his attitude turned back to rage at the discovery that they had survived the attack and temporarily de-locked their optical sensors. He whipped around and shouted to a crewman “Get that fucking lock back on the ship or we’ll be sent back home in caskets! Begin reloading the mass driver turrets and flood launch tubes with coolant to prepare for another salvo, in the mean time engage close-kinetic weaponry with chemical dispersion munitions! Gas the fuckers in their own ships!”
The patrol did exactly as ordered, with the various turrets beginning the painfully slow process of reloading new shells and flooding the torpedo and missile tubes with coolant so that new projectiles could be safely loaded and launched once again. As this happened the various smaller turrets on the ship disconnected internal belts and connected new ones; kinetic projectiles with a twist, they had internal compartments containing a highly potent nerve agent. The design itself was sadistic, a shell made to embed into a vessel and explode dispersing the lethal chemical gas and toxic shrapnel throughout a vessel’s interior. Even if they were intercepted the contaminated shrapnel would still pose a threat if it managed to pierce through any light armour plating or impact near exposed personnel.
These munitions were loaded into the smaller calibre turrets on the ships and after half a second the various weapon systems began pelting the rounds down towards the Selenican ships like an angry sandstorm of agonized death. The engagement designed to keep the Selenican ships busy while they reloaded their primary weapons… but would the attempt be successful? That was the big question, wasn’t it.
Ana (SR) (CONA)
"More munitions, coming in! Secondary fire, sir!" a bridgehand would shout towards the captain, his ship already pulling massively overstretched combat performance, the newly installed radiators modeled after the Noviy's designs flashing ever-closer to blinding white, the reactor being spun into overdrive more and more, engine power climbing more and more, as the ship was reaching its limits. Tachyonic arrows would loose their dreadful sparks yet again, aimed directly for the battlecruiser with the Imaginese lasers assisting with ablative pulses towards whatever escorts their limited ranges of traverse could aim them towards.
"I want that damn battleship down, FAST! We've already hit it hard, just one more-" he would begin to reply, interrupted by an emergency comm from his son's vessel.
"What is it son?!" He'd shout, ignoring all protocol as the destroyer banked hard to the left, presenting a full-frontal barrage to the SD vessels -- the most dangerous position against the Selenicans.
"Antimatter torpedoes loaded! Target locked, launching....NOW!!!!" He'd reply, the hatches encasing the terrible devices being wrenched open, nearly sheared off, and twenty anti-ship torpedoes, guided agents of Death himself, engaging their first stage -- acceleration towards the SD vessels. Five would head for the Arkadia, with an even spread among the rest of the ships. Launched with the torpedoes were 60 dummy missiles, loaded with relatively unimportant charges to serve as more fodder for the SD to shoot at and draw attention away from the torpedoes.
And yet, despite the loosing of munitions capable of bringing near any vessel to its knees, so too would the Selenican vessels suffer damage. In the damaged sectors of the destroyer, any damage control teams sent in to quench the fires before they grew too large were quickly snuffed out by a hideous infection, near instantly causing the multiple hearts of the serpents to stop, and death to soon follow. The Selenicans had known generations without such hideous and vile weapons of war, but war never truly stops being barbaric and cruel, and it seemed the SD knew that better then they had as the nerve-agent infused carrier munitions turned the entire damaged sector of the destroyer into a zone of instant demise, a miasma of the reaper hanging over the heavily damaged area, a bulkhead closing just too soon trapping several teams out to perish in its wake.
While the battle was occurring, the lack of focus from SD vessels had allowed the lumbering cargo ships to make haste for the edge of the interdiction field, to which they were approaching with their hulking mass and great inertia carrying them forward as the battle blinded any onlookers.
Sheng [Second Dawn]
The Captain of the Arkadia watched as the blinding flashes occurred once more, they grabbed ahold of the nearest rail as the ship lurched at the impact of the various tachyonic arrows and Imaginese lasers. The shields held fast for some but eventually fell from the overwhelming onslaught. The initial volley of Tachyons finally piercing the exterior armour of the Arkadia allowing the lasers to rip through the ship's internals, alarm bells beginning to blare in the bridge as several major components were incinerated and the ship's fusion reactor plating slammed shut into emergency containment mode.
The Captain looked up after the onslaught and screamed out "DAMAGE REPORT!" to which a nearby crewman stared at their console for half a second before turning around and shouting "Sir! The shielding system is completely destroyed, decks one through nine suffered catastrop- Multiple torpedoes inbound! Activate point defence network!" Several crewman whipped to other consoles and slammed on orange buttons, with the surviving PDT's on the Arkadia's hull snapping to life and aiming towards the AM turrets, letting loose an absolute rain of intercepting fire.. But the Arkadia's sensors were too damaged, the decoys too overwhelming. The Captain screamed to initiate evasive maneuvers, but the reactor was in emergency containment and the thrusters weren't responding.
The Captain stared at the incoming projectiles and made to say abandon ship before the first torpedo impacted the hull. In a brilliant flare of blue and white light, temporarily blinding the optical sensors of nearby SD ships. Once the vessels had recovered they looked onward to the Arkadia's position...
Only to see a charred field of debris surrounding a barely recognizable vessel that was cracked in half near the middle. The FNCV "Volatile" had been completely, and utterly destroyed. The first lost the SD's navy had suffered in the Ancerious Galaxy.
The "Volatile's" PDT fire however had lessened up the decoy swarm, allowing the other ships to take rapid action, and most were able to intercept the remaining torpedoes heading their way. However, one unlucky horizon had a computing malfunction and it too was pulverized by a Selenican torpedo with the entire front portion of the ship vaporized by it. A few scant escape pods managing to launch away moments later to the rear.
The Captain of the "Honourable", the Havalen Class vessel, watched in horror at the destruction the Selenican's were delivering to the patrol and how the remaining vessels were barely holding up. He shook in fear before he turned to a crewman next to him a solemn tone and said "The Battlegroup commander has been KIA, I am assuming immediate operational command effective immediately. Link in the other ships to our communications network and relay this information. In addition, I have determined that we are unable to presently defend ourselves adequately. I am authorizing a delta alert, hand me the keycard." The Crewman hastily reached down and pulled a rectangular black card out of his pouch and handed it to him, the Captain shakingly taking it.
The Captain immediately turned around and walked back towards the holo-map room, entering and immediately proceeding to the back left corner of the room where a black box with a slot on the front was. He inserted the keycard into the slot and lifted the box up with a click, revealing an aged red phone that was linked with the ship's communication systems. He pressed a few buttons on a keypad attached to the phone and held it up to his head. After a second he said in a shaky voice "This is Captain Ereboros of the FNSV Valiant, we are under Delta Alert and have lost the ability to defend ourselves. Position is S-X-9-3-3-8-0-1-1. We are requesting immediate deployment of a red package." After a second a disgruntled voice responded "This is Archon-6. Request granted, red package inbound."
Arkehold System, New Archon, Restricted Province #A-9, Citadel Federal Navy Port.
It was night when the order was received, the crew of the FNCV "Tenebrous" was to immediately begin launch procedure and assist the rogue patrol that had found itself under Selenican crosshairs. But this ship was different, clad in dark blue alloy armour with menacing jagged turrets emitting a dark blue glow. No, this ship was unlike any that the Second Dawn had deployed in a long while. It was a ship designed for pure combat, a titan of war and destruction, a ship that renounced life itself, an.. Apostate.. to peace.
The FNCV "Tenebrous" was an operational prototype Apostate Class Dreadnought, 13.2 kilometres long and armed with the Second Dawn's newly re-introduced laser warfare systems, and it had just been given it's first mission.
The "Tenebrous'" fusion torch drives roared to life with a bright blue flare as it began to raise itself off the ground, a deep and dark hum filling the air for kilometres around as it began to ascend into the sky. Although it would be quite some time until it arrived to it's destination, it was most certainly on the way...
Ana (SR) (CONA)
"TWO ENEMY VESSELS, DOWN!" a bridgeman would yell, and excited cheers would erupt on the bridge of the Daybringer-Class.
"Son, good call." The father would tell his subordinate. "We've no more duty here. We've sent the message needed -- we're retreating."
"Father?!" the son would reply, baffled at his father's choice. "We've the advantage! We have the pressure! They've lost their heaviest hitter, we're under little threat, why would we retreat from victory?!" The anger in his voice mirrored by the displeased noises on his destroyer's bridge, and confusion from that onboard his father's ship as well.
"These are not who we're at war with! We attacked first, our cargo ships have long since jumped from the system. We've succeeded. We needn't risk our lives or the lives of our subordinates to chase meaningless glory. You're aware of what Selia does to those who risk the lives of sailors needlessly, I fear for your life if we stay! And whose to say reinforcements aren't coming!?" the father would reply, aggressively defensive as ever.
His son would briefly consider his father's words, the red mist of anger coming over his view and thoughts. His ship was damaged, yes, but not beyond repair. He still had missiles, his torpedoes would need some time to be reloaded yes, but they still had munitions in reserve. However, the ships were dangerously close to overheating, their radiators glowing with white light, the tachyonic batteries of the vessels nearly having melted their barrels. Several of the Imaginese-purchased lasers were only maintaining operation by sheer force of will it seemed, and nearly every defensive measure of the ships were exhausted.
"Father. I cannot allow a decisive victory to slip through. We will not be remembered for being the cowards who fled, we will be remembered as heroes!"
The comms channel between the two ships was severed, with the Marzana-Class Destroyer speeding ahead of the Daybringer-Class, which began to fall behind.
--
"It seems he wishes for death..." the father would painfully speak, knowing that his son was essentially signing an execution warrant. Their ships were too exhausted to continue battle, and now, the Daybringer would be too damaged and its munitions expended to save his son. If only they surrendered...
"Damn traitor. When I win this, he'll be facing a court marshal." the father's son would speak, deluded into the "success" they had achieved. "Focus the smaller ships first, I want as many kills as possible! All remaining VLS cells, refresh your stocks, we're going to kill some of these bastards."
With this declaration, the son's destroyer would charge nearer to a stray SD ship, farther from the formation than the rest, with its point defenses and shield heavily exhausted.
--
The father's cruiser would begin to bank away from the battlefield, knowing now there was nothing to be done; it was his son's authority over the vessel to use it however he saw fit in a combat engagement. Any attempt at opening communications channels were instantly rejected by the destroyer. He would be caught in stunned silence while the second-in-command took over the ship for a time, the gall of his son to assume automatic superiority in combat?! And his son...his son would be dead. And it matters not how much he fights, the reaper which had taken many of the SD sailors would do the same for his son. Is this is punishment for not surrendering? Is this divine judgement? Nothing was to be done, now, and all that was left was to await the inevitable snuffing out of the ship from the tachyonic array, and with that, the lives of hundreds of men.
Sheng [Second Dawn]
The remaining patrol vessels remained completely motionless, they made no move to enter evasive maneuvers or even close the distance and fire upon the ship themselves. This in it of itself should be a dire warning to anyone with even a modicum of tactical intelligence; for it meant that they saw no need to do anything. That they were so sure of victory that they had neither desire to attack or fear to defend themselves, they just sat there and awaited what was to come. And come it did, gravimetric sensors belonging to both nations would start crackling with a sudden burst of activity. The signature was low at first but then seemingly out of nowhere it skyrocketed as if a black hole had opened up right in front of them, the readings would be incomprehensible but unluckily for the arrogant son this would soon be explained.
All of a sudden a crackle of energy appeared in front of the patrol of Second Dawn ships, and then? Judgement appeared. A ship unlike any of the others materialized, with thick indigo plating and massive black jagged turrets that were already swivelling around to face the Son’s ship. It was easily the biggest of the SD’s ships there, dwarfing over the Havalen Class- it had to be nearly 15 kilometres long! Even the SD sailors were shocked at it’s appearance, expecting regular reinforcements not whatever this monster was. Some of the patrol’s turrets began to swivel to the new ship before their respective Captain’s saw what was painted on either side of it’s bridge: The Symbol of the Second Dawn, and next to it was the round emblem of SAGA.
The “Tenebrous” hailed all of the Selenican’s ships but did not allow for replies, a deeply robotic voice spoke. “This is the FNCV Tenebrous of the Executive Protection Agencies’ Federal Navy. Take heart that you will be the first to die to the new flagship of the Federal Navy, and that you will be used as examples for the rest of the galaxy; that our justice is to be feared and respected, for the Second Dawn has never known defeat…”
And with that statement, every single ship except for the Tenebrous unleashed a volley of nuclear munitions. From Mass Driver shells to anti-ship missiles to torpedoes, if it was loaded then it was fired. The Tenebrous’ own turrets beginning to charge up for their own volley.
Ana (SR) (CONA)
There were no words for the destruction which followed after this transmission from the Second Dawn. The aged captain only watched on with a dark grimace, knowing he could not interfere, as his son's vessel was pelted from all sides by nuclear munitions, missiles, torpedoes, and every other munition launched towards the hopelessly outmatched Selenican ship. Its point defenses were impossibly overwhelmed, shields even when given top reactor priority couldn't hold back the onslaught. It was nigh-instantly disintegrated into a wreck of metal and the ash of every sailor aboard, the only remaining relic of what the destroyer once was was a single, small tachyon turret which had made it through the attack through sheer luck.
"Captain..." a bridgehand would ask, not too soon. "We've reached the edge of their interdiction range."
"Leave this forsaken place." He would order, cold and distant, choking on his words. Not once looking away from the UV monitor which he used to view the carnage. "We've achieved our goals. We will leave in haste."
With that order, a brief flash of light would be viewed by the Second Dawn, as the warp drive of the Selenican ship spun up and left, the rapidly depleting ancerium stocks aboard hardly getting the ship out of range.
Sheng [Second Dawn]
The "Tenebrous" watched as the fleet ripped apart the hasty destroyer, a single individual clad in a fine black coat with a simple peaked cap stood on the dreadnought's top observation deck staring out into the destruction as a few blips of light appeared out in the expanse of space. A few seconds later a voice said over comms "Admiral, the Selenican vessels have retreated. We have won."
The Admiral chuckled before reaching up and pressing two fingers to the side of his head, silencing the comms as he watched the debris field idly float around in the cold vacuum of space. After his chuckle died down he reached down and pressed a button on the console in-front of them before saying in an amused tone "Attention Crew, return to normal duties and prepare for the return voyage. We have successfully forced the Selenicans from the system, raise back up to condition five."
And so they had won, but at what cost? An Arkadia Class had been destroyed and they had been the aggressors of this conflict, which could make international news if the Selenicans chose to publicize the news and paint them in a negative light instead of covering the engagement up. Alas, the consequences would be something else for both of them. The Admiral tapped his fingers against his thigh as the shutters to the observation deck started to close and the Second Dawn ships began to re-orient themselves in preparation for FTL travel.
The Admiral whistled as he walked toward the exit, singing quietly to himself as he exited the room...