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Post by EmperorMyric on Dec 16, 2017 19:37:53 GMT
Somewhere in space, near Union territory. Coalition convoy under attack
Coran sneered, the convoy had been successfully intercepted and its escaped occupants captured. The two ships which had been intercepted had also been stripped of whatever they could use here. Coran didn’t want to linger long, he knew Patrol fleets would home in to their location. As a captain of Capitol Coran knew a lot about convoy raiding and had done so for a long time. His cruiser, the Pale Mortis was commanding the small Dart Triumvirate fleet though the ship itself had sustained damage when the convoy had returned fire. Alas the Shadow Blade contingent insisted on stripping unnecessary materials from the ships in order to leave nothing left. Coran and the Shadow Guard contingent knew this was a bad idea. So far their attacks had gone unnoticed, if they were spotted now the game would be given away and the enemy would step up their convoy escorts. Coran slammed his fist on the table, the Shadow Guard commander hologram behind him nodded.
“It seems our friends are taking far too longer than usual” The Dark cloudy mass said with annoyance. Coran shouted.
“Tell those bastards to get their fucking asses off those wrecks before I blow them off myself! Their desire to take those extra fuel cells is going to cost us our fleet! And worse the surprise of our forces in this region!” The coms officer nodded nervously and sent the message, The Shadow Guard commander turned back to face Coran.
“If the enemy do show we must execute a fighting withdraw, these prisoners and resources are too useful to loose. I suggest your ships carrying them should pull back now and have my ships cover them. We have superior weapons and can fight off the enemy. The ShadowBlade ships can then harass the enemy before we all withdraw to defended space” the Shadow commander suggested in a cold and calculating tone. Coran nodded and agreed. He liked the Shadow Guard, they had brains enough to get the job done right.
“Sir the ShadowBlade commander is on the line” Coran raged and opened the com line.
“What the fuck do you think your doing!” He yelled. The Shadow Blade commanded shook his head.
“We need these fuel cells, we are finishing up now. Start making your way to friendly space, we shall catch up, as for us... you do not command us, You may be overall commander but we bow to no other people” He retorted in a jabbing voice. The Shadow Guard commander stepped in.
“You will be destroyed if you disobey commands again, the key to our victory relies on our co workings. Learn to remember that, even my people and that of Capitol understand that, you would do well to do that too” The black mass replied. The ShadowBlade commander merely cut the link. The sensor operator of the Shadow Guard ships announced over coms.
“Enemy signatures approaching” Coran cursed and the Shadow Guard commader nodded.
“Ready charged missile batteries. Coran, withdraw your forces. If nessecary we leave Shadow Blade to fend for themselves, hopefully other of their commanders are more willing to work together than this one” Coran nodded.
This was gonna be a tough situation.
Union space: Mirach system: Union high command orbital
“Have you heard the reports?” Volkus asked. Hargun nodded.
“Piracy is on the increase, the Coalition have upped the convoy escorts and deployed hunter killer squadrons. It would be wise to do the same, Volkus I want you to put the alert level up and deploy Kunai hunter killer teams” Hargun replied looking at the data slate. Volkus nodded.
“Yes sir, right away”
“As for new allies I have received word of yet more empires seeking relations with us, a message was received yesterday from a 'Velltea Imperium' As well as word from Captain Sacule concerning a new potential ally called the 'Adectu Empire' It seems Ancerious has its fair share of factions” Hargun said smiling. Volkus nodded.
“Very true, I will personally take a small fleet and meet with this Velltea Empire, as for Sacule, she can handle herself, she has a certain way with words” Volkus laughed. Hargun smiled.
“Good, update me when all goes according to plan”
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Post by EmperorMyric on Dec 16, 2017 19:38:08 GMT
"General Quarters, General Quarters, All hands -- Man your Action Stations! Up and Forward to Starboard, Down and Aft to Port. General Quarters, General Quarters!"
The Klaxon rang jarringly in his ears as the Teruvian Male sat up abruptly, his small size saving him from beaning his skull on the rack above him. As he blinked the sleep from his eyes, rolling out of the rack and dropping to deck deck among the scrabbling shipmates about him he went over his mental checklist; Skinsuit - Check. Helmet... not check. He reached out to grab it, hanging above him where he had been sleeping and clipped it on. Check. Sidearm, check. Oxygen-set, medkit, check. He turned and partly stumbled, partly jogged along with the mass of crew rushing from #4 forward Berthing to get to his station.
Down and Aft, he rushed down the Port side, keeping with the correct traffic as he slipped into the Dropship bay to view the Humpbacks that were getting immediately prepped by the ready crew as reports came rolling in;
"All hands, this is your Captain speaking; The CNV Aubrey Noir reported Enemy Contact at approximately 0355. Contact was lost with the Noir soon after. The Vessel's EPIRB went off after communications went dark. The Patrol has been ordered to divert, and sweep the area for hostiles and search for survivors. This is not a Drill, we have friendlies dying out there!"
He woke up. This wasn't some simple drill, another monotonous call to stations. The Aubrey Noir had been steaming off their flank for the last day and a half, professionally keeping their position in formation. Thoughts rolled through his mind; Memories of watching the survivors coming pouring in from Abraxis IX as the IDI chased them off planet. Had they chased them here? Did they even have a chance?
He grit his teeth and looked over his console, Even if they didn't have a chance, he would be damned if those demonic creatures were going to find him simpering in a hole. This ship wasn't going down without a fight.
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Coalition Naval Vessel "Caer'Ullen" Ship's Deck Log (excerpt) 25-9-001
0400-0800 (Cont.)
0425 Called to Action Stations, Material Condition Zebra Set throughout the ship. Captain on the Bridge.
0430 Changed Course to Match CNV Vaughn C'Ratt, increased speed Slip-8
0432 All Stations Report Manned and Ready
0455 Enginerooms #2 & #3 Report overheat to Plasma Conduits, EOW requests Engineroom #4 brought online to alleviate strain on #2
0505 Engineroom #4 Energized, rigged for Steaming. Enginerooms #2 & #3 report lowered strain.
0525 Reduced Speed, Slip-2, called to flight quarters. CNV Xenophon, CNV Impellor prep for launch.
0530 CNV Xenophon, CNV Impellor clear of Parasite Racks. Assumed screening position ahead of our course. Increased Speed Slip-6
0545 CNV Vaughn C'Ratt orders Crash-Exit to Sublight.
0546 Reduced Speed, Sublight. Obtained Lidar Contact on 24 Hostiles.
0548 CNV Caer'Ullen cleared for action, Commenced Fire.
----
Task Group 134.2, Coalition Navy, tasked with Revenue Service, entered the area abruptly and with little to no warning. Already prepared for combat, already rigged for action, the dropped from Slipspace 50 Kilometers the wreckage of the Aubrey Noir. An Arrow formation of 19 ships, the Vlaew Class Light Cruiser (Destroyer Leader) sitting in the middle behind a screen of five Warspite Class Destroyer Escorts, and ten Coriolis Class Gunships. Almost immediately the Fighters began launching from the Vlaew, Warspites, and the Coriolis Class ships.
Lidar, Subspace Active Arrays, and a flood of Electronic Countermeasures went active. Gravitational and Ionic decoys were launched from the ships to be towed by tractor beam to mimic the engine output of the Coalition Vessel that launched them. Then, as one, Task Group 134.2 spoke. Charged Particle Cannons and Heavy Railguns thundered in a sudden rippling barrage of death.
Cruisers were the Priority, the Warspites and the Vlaew focused on those. Specifically, they focused on the single Capitol Cruiser. It was, after all, a unique vessel on the field and therefore drew the most attention from the Vlaew's Combat Information Center. However, this was not all they shot at, the Screen of Coriolis Class Gunships broke off, leaving the true line-fighting to the Warships. They, instead, gathered into three packs of four Gunships... each one picking at Shadowguard Cruiser to target with attack runs, most notably being the one over the gutted hull of the Aubrey Noir.
As the gun war Erupted, the CICs of all of the ships involved began calculations for the initial launches of HVSDLs. The crews of the 250 Meter Vlaew Class and the 130 Meter Warspites were rather amazed at the sheer scale of the enemy vessels, having trained to hit high speed, high maneuverability targets of their equivalent side... hitting something taking up a full Kilometer or... three... would be like trying to hit a Titan. -Easy-.
The Task group, holding a careful tight formation quickly began putting on speed, cutting to port and starboard, as well as up and down at 'random' intervals to throw off enemy incoming weapons while keeping the screen relatively intact through each maneuver.
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Post by EmperorMyric on Dec 16, 2017 19:39:03 GMT
Somewhere in space, near Union territory. Coalition convoy under attack. Coalition forces engaging enemy
Coran snarled, the ship rocked as a barrage of enemy fire impacted the Pale Mortis throwing some of the deck crew out of their seats. He shouted and cursed loudly.
“Return fire! I want our guns glowing red now!” Coran was angry, due to ShadowBlade the patrol fleet had found them, they 3 empires would have to fight now to escape with their bounty. The Enemy fleet had made the first moves, using the element of surprise. Their larger ships engaged both Corans ship and the Shadow Guard cruisers, which a smaller gunship decision was engaging the Shadow Blade frigates near the wrecks. He looked at the tactical read out and saw his escort screen was now splitting in two, one group was hugging the Pale Mortis acting like a shield, the other group was heading towards the larger Coalition ships to harass them. Meanwhile the Cruiser itself had turned to engage the enemy ships, its cannons flared and missiles flew out of their launchers towards the Coalition ships, it was then the Tachyon Arrow came online and Coran laughed as he pressed the fire button personally, the shot launching towards the Coalition craft.
By the wrecks of the Coalition convoy the battle was playing out differently. The 7 Shadow Blade frigates had abandoned their scavenging and had begun to tighten formation, into one that enhanced point defence fire against the incoming gunships. Railgun fire lit up as the gunships approached knocking a few out of the void, the remainder kept going and in response the Shadow Blade frigates launched their own attack craft, a hybrid between fighter and gunship. These flew out in response and began to engage the Coalition forces in dogfights. Meanwhile the frigates themselves began pulling back to Corans position to better consolidate a defensive formation.
The Shadow Guard cruisers however were already in a defensive formation with Corans force, they too had taken fire from the Coalition forces and in response had begun to ready a charged missile volley. The black spiny crystal ships started to pulse their missile mounts with power and small black shards began to grow quickly on the vessels and in spectacular bursts of dark energy the missiles fired off towards the Coalition ships. The powerful missiles locking onto their larger ships. The cruisers continued to fire but also started to pull back, protecting the Capitol ships from fire. The Shadow Guard captain had done this to shield two Capitol escorts, one of which contained the supplies the Dark Triumvirate sorely needed while the other contained the Coalition prisoners.
“I have your back Coran” The Shadow Guard captain said to Coran in his holographic persona, Coran nodded.
“We will start to pull back into a defensive formation, it appeared however those Coalition gunships are trying to hamstring those Shadow Blade frigates” Coran said as the two surveyed the tactical data.
“Do not worry, if its one thing the Shadow Blade know how to do is get out of a tricky situation, they can take care of themselves, Coran. We need those supplies remember that, if we have to die to get them back then so be it” The Shadow Guard captain reminded Coran. The Capitol commander frowned in response but understood. The Sensor operator suddenly called out.
“Sir im getting inbound signatures... From two different origins. One will be with us in a few minutes the other a tiny fraction longer” Coran cursed again.
“Fuck it they are calling in reinforcements...” The Shadow Guard commander frowned.
“I told you raiding too close to Union space would attract attention from more than one party. Next time we do things under my command” Coran merely frowned angrily at the comment.
“Confirmation of the in bounds is confirmed... I'm picking up Union signatures and also some I have never seen before” The sensor operator called out again. Coran shook his head in annoyance.
“Tighten defensive formation and protect the cargo... its all we can do for now”
Noctis Fortress System. Union space. 64th Hunter fleet
Shunan was alerted instantly by an alarm on his wrist mounted computer, soon after the signal came in over the bridge as a message from high command. The 64th Hunter fleet had been tasked with investigating a large group of signals just east of Noctis and Union space, the signals included SSC, Coalition and Capitol ships, as well as two other types yet unseen. That and a distress call had been received. Shunan input the co ordinates to the helm AI and notified the other 2 ships. His light cruiser was Kunai class and was designed for these missions. With a virtual confirmation from the other 2 Kunai class the small squadron jumped to slip space, towards the unknown scenario. All Shunan knew is that people needed his help and a distress signal had been heard, if Capitol was involved then battle would be at hand. He went over his ships systems one last time. The 64th would make Capitol pay for whatever trickery this was...
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Post by EmperorMyric on Dec 16, 2017 19:40:46 GMT
The pilothouse was ablaze. The Coalition Gunship "Xenophon" had taken multiple hits across her port side from enemy railgun batteries. Shields already low from charging in through enemy fire before hand... the 30 Meter long Gunship shuddered violently with each impact; Sparks and smoke billowed from consoles as the Jakeili Sensorman (Third Class) took a fire extinguisher to his own. Reports came howling up from the Primary - and only - engineroom; "Destabilization in Generator #2. MDR #1 has a broken Plasma Relay and it's shielding is fluctuating. Securing MDR #1 and Gen 2!"
That left them at half speed with barely any shields... but they were still fighting with thier single remaining Spinal-Mounted CPL. Blue-Green plasma Pulses flew from the ship as Point Defense swatted an enemy light missile as it came in. Another Railgun Hit Slammed into the ship forward, shearing off a massive chunk of the bow, and taking forward Berthing with it.
Passageways began sealing as the CNV Xenophon lined up on the Shadowblade Frigate they were about to rake and with a light-dimming shriek The Charged Particle Lance let off a Brilliant, dull Orange-red solid state beam of Charged Particles, the Pilot dragging the Cruiser-grade Beam weapon from one end of the Frigate to the other before the weapon sputtered and went out, aft there was a deep rumble seconds before the Starboard Engine array simply exploded and light went dark.
The Corosis Class Gunship went into a heaving spin as gravity went out and began tumbling off into space. She was accompanied in death by three of the 12 Corosis Class Gunships, her entire flight.
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Coalition Naval Vessel "Caer'Ullen" Ship's Deck Log (excerpt) 25-9-001
0400-0800 (Cont.)
0555 Enemy Engaged, Contact lost with CNV Xenophon, CNV Impellor. Visual of Destruction of CNV Grapnel confirmed. CNV Impellor spotted launching Lifeboats prior to detonation.
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Task Group 134.2, Coalition Navy, was accelerating upwards of the mean galactic Plane and to Spinward of the Galactic Core. As the Cruisers began opening up on the Task Group, the powerful Command Coordination Systems aboard the Vlaew Class ship; "Vaughn C'Ratt" came into play, instantly linking with the screening Warspites and morphing the formation differently, transferring ships to new screening locations and changing the entire shape of the formation.
The Formation looked incredibly lopsided, a sideways chevron with a triangle of Warspites screening the side of the Vlaew from incoming fire. Shields flashed brightly as incoming fire lit them up, like skin-tight leotards of television static the Warspites and in a lesser part -- the Vlaew lit up on Lidar like Christmas trees as energy was converted to light and reflected in a brilliant corona from the impact zone, as Railgun rounds were vaporized on impact.
Missiles were coming in, the Vlaew took in the sensor reports from it's charges, both the Gunships and the Warspites and the crew and the AI began charting Point Defense fields of fire... each ship was a single part of a greater cell... all of it working in wonderful harmony to keep the Vlaew Nucleus safe. As the missiles approached, the immensity of point defense fire became clear as the Warspites' point defense, Primary and secondary "Dual Purpose" CPLs came to bear on the incoming with vicious effectiveness.
CPLs changed their particle chargers and barrel-lined condensing arrays to turn the beam array into a shotgun-like cone of particles to swat enemy missiles from the sky, point defense sprayed light rail gun and a horde of green-cyan plasma, and white-blue Lazers into space in an unholy conflagration that created a carefully orchestrated wall of death for any incoming missiles.
That is to say, even with the point defense, the tachyon Arrow and all of the incoming fire wasn't completely ineffective. The CNV "Aventine Fulcrum" began to lag behind the rest of the formation, falling out. Fire and debris trailed her Starboard side, massive gashes and impacts had dug through her relatively thin armor once her shields went down. The railguns, lasers, and ultimately the Tachyon Arrow - which is what finally overloaded the shields to the point they went down... her shield nodes burnt out from the bleed through of the Tachyon Arrow - had did a terrible number on the vessel.
Lifepods, Humpbacks, and Lifeboats were seen showering from her Flanks as she slewed drunkenly to one side... then, in one last gesture of defiance... a Brilliant Blue-White Hologram of the vessel's Ensign trailed behind it as the remaining crew, Captain, and AI urged the last ounces of power from her remaining two Cores and the Warspite began advancing directly into the vicious teeth of the enemy. Charged Particle Beams lanced from her remaining turrets that could be brought to bear as she aimed for the nearest enemy cruiser at what could be her best flank speed, wreckage streaming behind her in a wake of death.
"Preserve for our children, the last, best hope for the Coalition. We have a Rendezvous with Destiny." was the last message as the comms went silent from the CNV Aventine Fulcrum as she charged into the enemy's teeth to punch a few out, and draw fire away from her fellows.
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Coalition Naval Vessel "Caer'Ullen" Ship's Deck Log (excerpt) 25-9-001
0400-0800 (Cont.)
0610 Engineering Reports damage to Turret #3, Damage Control teams responding
0611 Turret #7 Destroyed, 05 Casualties. Damage Control Teams Responding. Overload Burnout in Shield Generation Nodes 3, 7, 9, 14. Engineering sending repair crews.
0615 CNV Aventine Fulcrum Reports heavy Damage, abandoning Ship.
0617 CNV Aventine Fulcrum Dropping from formation, Vessel moving to engage enemy contacts.
0620 Contact with CNV Aventine Fulcrum lost.
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The Coalition took damage, but across the CNV Vaughn C'Ratt's board, things were lighting up green and firing solutions were made. Kilometer long ships were nigh impossible to miss. And sitting in the bays of the Coalition Ships were well over a hundred or more HVSDLs. The Enemy had taken the lives of their fellows, and accrued a debt. They were about to pay in blood.
In one massive wave, all of the Coalition Ships spoke as one... gouts of white particles exploded from their missile decks as the VLS Tubes broke open and expelled their charges with the magnetic acceleration units built into the tubes... and then... with the rippling of space like the pavement on a hot summer day, all of the missiles disappeared.
Less than thirty seconds later, they reappeared... no doubt a few would miss, but the others appeared less than a meter off of the enemy hull... the large, sluggishly moving enemy cruisers never had a chance. They were too big, and they were too unmanueverable. 20 HVSDLs per ship, each one weighing in at nearly 20 Tons, each of them moving at just under the speed of light, exited Slipspace and impacted the enemy ship they had been tasked with destroying like a massive semi-truck sized armor-piercing penetrator.
The Devastating weapons worked purely on the idea of fluid dynamics, shockwave theory. The missiles would hit, and drill into a target... the force of these impacts would cause shockwaves to flow through the enemy ship, ionizing air and metal near the impact sight... then just simply tearing metal away from structural frames... lessening the farther they got from the impact zone... possibly to the point of simple spalling spraying foot long needles of metal into the faces of crew-members.
The Coalition had a bite as well, dozens of times bigger than their ship's bark, and they weren't going down without taking a chunk from the enemy's throat.
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Post by EmperorMyric on Dec 16, 2017 19:41:02 GMT
12:49:39 400 Kilometers aft of Coalition Forces
The battle between the Coalition took on its latest escalation as further shots were traded across the common distances of naval combat. Destructive energies crossed the range either missing or delivering incalculable amounts of damage no longer confined by common terms. The two seemed locked in a stalemate of sorts as it appeared that no one had heeded the earlier distress signal, or had they? Arriving without the expected fanfare of exiting a speed that multiplied the concept of faster than light by several magnitudes of order the first of SSC’s battle group arrived to the rear of the Coalition forces. The three vessels faded into existence, in a formation that could be called arrowhead but in reality given the central vessel’s length compared to her two compatriots more resembled a diamond. At the heart of the formation lay the spinal Carrier, SCS Andex to the portside was the SCS Sliver while on starboard the SCS Nankeen appeared. The group itself was clearly running SSC IFF transponders and bore the insignia of the territorial navy, a simple black and white version of the traditional blazing star insignia encircled with a depiction of olive branches and wheat sheathed in blue wrappings. Almost immediately after arrival the SCS Andex sent an open hail to the Coalition fleet offering assistance in the current situation it was the wise thing to do as no one wanted to add friendly fire to their ship’s logs. Even with the open gesture it was still likely during this time the three ships of the group were being scrutinized by both friend and foe. More so they would find the ships were not scanning properly; it was if they were there but not, passives indicated there were vessels but little else. Active scanners seemed to scatter before getting close to the ships rendering the same effect as passive means.
Meanwhile aboard the Andex the interior flight decks were rife with almost contrasting activity to the naval battle going on outside. Deck Chiefs shouted orders over the deafening rattle of men machines and equipment being moved or moving about. Flight crews performed checks on starfighters to be launched. Here one fighter readied for takeoff was towed into position by an operations vehicle into a lift platform so it could be raised up to the launch deck. Others still were receiving final repairs and such so that they might be ready as back up craft. The pilots still rushing to their craft were frantically strapping into their rides core modules or otherwise receiving specific orders from their respective flight commands. Here and there ordinance and weapons carts darted about the interior deck utilizing gravitic interlocks to remain firmly attached to the deck even in the advent of something causing the ship to rock. Even without the Coalition’s confirmation, the Andex began to unload fighters into space as if to amplify the threat to the pirates as encounters numerous small craft were launched for anti-capitol strikes against any enemy warship in range which meant all of the enemy was in range. But of course the initial arrivals were not the only point of activity somewhere else greater maneuvers were about to unfold.
12:51:00 Somewhere above the Coalition Forces
The three other vessels of the SSC battle group took an intentionally differing course towards the battle. Whereas the Territorial vessels arrived behind the coalition to act as a threat multiplier against the enemy the SSCS Star Slayer, Vindicator and Seydlitz took a graceful curve at FTL speeds to bring them squarely above the Coalition forces and to maximize post emergence speeds. Aboard the bridge of the Star Slayer The crew manned their posts cautiously as the effects of the ships maneuvers at faster than light speeds even with inertial nullification in place still experienced a little bit of gravitational pull. Despite this turning at faster than light speeds was no easy feat, however with practice one could make long turns and arrive into a strategic position with a little extra. In prior days this would have been called a gravitational sling maneuver however without a star handy it meant doing something very different.
“Emergence point looks good captain no obstructions and the enemy aren’t even firing into the area.” “Excellent, Make sure Sub-light is at full and bring us out in fifteen seconds. Have tactical prime the fore tubes for our attack run on nearest enemy warship. Oh, Chief?”
Chief engineer Daugherty looked up from a console at the bridge’s rear to the captain. She had been monitoring the FTL field calculations for the hyperspace exit maneuvers as well as the flight path of the vessel and information from the pre-emergence scanning system. The idea was to avoid objects with tiny but early adjustments to the ship’s FTL field effectively allowing for maneuvers without the use of actual turns. Tiny adjustments in the poly-hyperdrive system created slight gaps pockets or bits of micro FTL turbulence which meant nothing to speed but ever so slightly altered flight path by millimeters over upwards of thirty light years effectively altering overall course by just a few degrees. Such maneuvers were simply impossible with any other form of hyperdrive and unheard of for any other form of FTL propulsion and yet with skilled engineers SSC craft were effectively able to out run, maneuver and position any particular threat that would have face regular hyperdrive equipped starships.
“Captain?” “I’d like to cause a bit of chaos when we pass through…any chance the folks on deck nine are feeling a bit lucky with the lifts?” “Are you kidding they’ve wanted to use that for years!” “Good let them know to fire at will as we pass our first target. All hands Prepare for Combat!”
The clock ticked away as the Star Slayer neared its emergence point while it’s two comrades traveled mere fractions of a millisecond behind. Within the ship armored blast shutters both external and internal slid over what few portholes the ship actually had. Combat force fields flickered into life to fill the void between such apertures to further reinforce the most likely weak points in the hull. Meanwhile On the outside the ships Molecular Armor system engaged as interlocking plates of armor appeared over the hull systematically starting on the port and starboard reinforcing the vessel in a coat of additional armor. Moments after as the Star Slayer burst out of FTL accelerated by its existing accumulated inertia still carrying a speed above light speed. The effect created multiple sensor shadows of the craft as it and its two comrades hurtled down in a collective dive on their target the center most frigate in the Shadow blade formation. The intent was to maximize the effect of the vessel’s own ECM and stealth features by creating a sensory hell storm for the enemy.
“Captain we have a lock!” “Tactical fire at will!”
Even with the incurred speed the three Star slayer class Warships delivered a torrent of Planar torpedoes across the void. Their firing only indicated by brief distortions ahead of the ships and then brief at best distortions in space as they crossed the distance moving noticeably faster than their parent vessels. As the distance closed what would the enemy do with what appeared to be a great number of destroyer scale warships closing faster then any vessel at sub-light should be able to?
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Post by EmperorMyric on Dec 16, 2017 19:41:59 GMT
Somewhere in space, near Union territory. Coalition convoy under attack
The S.B.S. 'Necrosis' was hit, taking massive damage from a Coalition gunship. The SB fighters fell back from defending it, as they knew it was worthless to try to save it. TRC Captain Xarcsen observed from the lead frigate, making decisions on what to do next. He sent a message to the other CO's as the scavenging party was retrieved.
"This is Xarcsen, we're going to head to the fall-back point, then jumping out, we're done here!" he yelled, making the other ships prime their engines.
Coran received the transmission over the coms and punched the tactical read out and it flickered slightly "Tell the Necrosis to get its damn ass back in formation! this is a battle not a sight seeing cruise!" The Pale Mortis had taken some serious damage when the Coalition had opened fire, the entire starboard bow had merely exploded leaving the Capitol Cruiser severely damaged, 4 out of the 6 screening escorts had also been destroyed and Coran had seen the Shadow Guard ships take a few hits too, the HVSDLs bypassing their Adaptive Armour. One of their cruisers had been rendered severely damaged. At least the Escorts harassing the Coalition ships had stayed relatively intact. Coran had watched the Coalition gunships attack the Shadow Blade ships and Coran was angered at their eager to escape. he opened coms to their captain
"Get your fucking ship back in formation that’s an order!"
Xarcsen listened. "Fine. Get all of the supplies and commanding ships out though, that means the ships me, you, and the SG CO are on, as well as the ones with the supplies. we'll leave all non-required ships here to cover our escape." He said, then thinking.
"You were the one oh so eager to get out in the first place."
Coran listened angrily when he was alerted by two things, One the escort containing the prisoners had been crippled, its reactor and engine section were missing. The second was that 6 new signatures had turned up and suddenly opened fire, mostly on the Shadow Guard ships, the initial volley had been evaded though damage was obviously taken. the new ships however had been completely surprising, Coran had never seen these before. He turned back to the Shadow Blade commander.
"Fine, we will pull back together, the prisoner ship has been compromised, we will have to leave it. I wanted to get out here to get us supplies. You KNOW why we need them!" He said as he issued commands to the various ships.
"Very well," Xarcsen said, "let us hope that the failures here aren't going to earn us too bad of a punishment" He was thinking, since the Capitol lost the prisoners, along with trade route info, then Coran may get worse of a punishment then himself. but then again, he lost 30% of the supplies...
Coran growled "It wasn’t our fault that we didn’t fall back sooner was it?" Coran sneered. He issued commands to the fleet to fall back, all the while the remaining units screened each other and continued to fire back. The Pale Mortis managed to get another salvo off with its Tachyon Arrow and Coran watched as another salvo of Black crystalline missiles were launched by the Shadow Guard, this time towards the new attackers. They then fired their engines and started to fall back too. The Capitol Escorts harassing the Coalition ships however started a full on attack run as they opened up at point blank range with their cannons and Nuclear missile launchers. Coran knew they were expendable. It was then yet another 3 ships turned up on sensors "Fucking hell who are these guys..." Coran said annoyed. Xarcsen can you identify them? My sensors are offline"
Xarcsen was alarmed when the sensor technology told him what the three signatures were "Coran, double your speed, they seem to be Union Kunai class light cruisers"
Coran again cursed when the hologram of the Shadow Guard captain appeared next to him, he had been gone a few minutes when his ship had taken some direct fire.
"Coran we need to retreat now, we have the supplies we need now lets go! There is no time to waste, my cruisers have already taken heavy damage!" The normal composure of the man had been replaced by anger.
"Im doing what I can! Lets all hurry to the damn jump point and leave, we have what we came for, command will at least be happy with that" Coran replied.
"Agreed." Xarcsen said. "when we get back we should take some more simulations alongside each other, we need to figure out how to operate in conjunction..."
The Shadow Guard captain Nodded "That means knowing when to fall back"
Coran agreed "Aye, for now we need to get out asses out alive"
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Post by EmperorMyric on Dec 16, 2017 19:49:59 GMT
They had been captured. The Pirates, presumably extremely well armed slavers, had begun snapping up the lifeboats and dragging them aboard right after the Aubrey Noir Detonated... then, they had begun tearing through the remains of the ship. The Ordeal had been 'harrowing' to say the least, but it wasn't too bad. If anything sheer physical size gave the POWs the advantage enough to keep the slavers retrained in their 'punishments' to keep the survivors in line. At least two had been shot that shi had seen, no doubt more. But, they had been drug through the ship's utilitarian, simplistic, unpainted grey hallways until they had arrived in a mass detention area... presumably, due to the boxes and crates to one side... a Cargo Hold.
Guards in relatively light armor, with assault rifles and a few working heavier weapons stood in a defensive cordon to keep the survivors in check. But, in their rush... while they had disarmed and briefly gone over the varying alien forms -- They couldn't be that incredibly thorough in such a short amount of time. When chaos broke out, and smoke started filling the compartment... when sparks and the lights dimmed, and the vicious sounds of battle managed to come through the bulkheads Vaera Vasaraan knew it was time. Among all of the survivors, hidden away, the tall Gadzu did hir best to look inconspicuous as shi rearranged hir impressive bust.
Falling from under hir cleavage was a small crystalline device, warmed by hir body heat to be nearly invisible to a scan. It slipped out the undone button of hir blouse and quietly slipped hir finger and claw into the thumbprint. It gently warmed up almost imperceptibly and as small chirp was emitted. All of this would no doubt go unseen and heard in the mass of bodies and the confusing mass of alien races that clustered in the cargo bay. With the implants, crystalline splints, different body temperatures, and different DNA Patterns, it would melt into the mass of the sensors.
However, for one sensor, it would stand out brilliantly... easily pinpointed. The PEPIRB, the Personal Emergency Position Indicating Resonance Beacon, was a standard lifeboat load out item. Designed to fit in a EVA and survival suit's Search and Rescue belt, the item was biologically formed crystal around a crystalline Resonance Chamber. The heat of the body would cause a small crystalline battery to turn on to power the resonance chamber. Inside the chamber a small slipspace field would turn on sharply, and then turn off, eating an atom of the crystal over and over to create a powerful, localized Slipspace Anomaly.
It wasn't harmful to the user, but to specific slipspace field sensors, it was a pinpoint brilliant light blinking in the static haze. It had been determined that few factions used slipspace, leaving the Coalition perfectly positioned to use the beacons. Coalition ships used slipspace for FTL transit, as well as to move their HVSDL missiles, meaning both navigators and weapons officers would be focusing on sensors to spot the beacon.
As the Capitol ship violently slammed to one side, throwing most of the crew members off their feet as well as the survivors to the ground... hearing the violent shearing of metal and the gasp of air leaving a spaceship before the emergency doors closed, the Gadzu knew that it was only a matter of time. Shi turned and looked over the Jakeili beside hir, he was off bad. Wounds crisscrossed his body, his wing membranes had been shredded, and he looked like he had a broken leg. "I need a Corpsman over here! I need a Healer!" Shi shouted, in Untersprache. Almost immediately, a Teruvian had appeared at hir side, shoving the Gadzu to one side to begin looking over the Bat-like being and immediately began rattling off orders to the gang of teruvians that had followed her, in it's "Archaic" Tongue... something Vaera couldn't understand.
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Coalition Naval Vessel "Vaughn C'Ratt" Ship's Deck Log (Excerpt)
25-9-001
0400-0800 (Cont.)
0625 Enemy begins withdrawal, confirmed SSC Forces on attack run. Recalled Gunships from assault, destroyer screen repositioned to Screen Bravo-One-Charlie.
0628 Received PEPIRB Distress call, position xxx-xxx-xxx, verified authenticity.
0629 Boarding Teams to stations, set Spatial Operations Bill.
0640 CNV Brigadoon, CNV Vasharr's Blood, CNV Leech, CNV Xeremose signal smooth launch.
0645 All Boarding Vessels given vectors.
0655 Boarding ships making attack run.
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The cabin of the Ramship was... a somber place. Almost pitch black, the unit of Teruvian marines sat -- locked into their seats. Their Mk VII SMLE, Simon Munitions Laser Edition, rifles sitting between their feet aimed upward. The ship shuddered gently, creaking as the webbing shook behind the marines, items clicking and clattering inside their compartments. No marine said a word, it wasn't needed. Hooked together via nanite implants they spoke to each other with what could be considered psuedo-telepathy... except for it was electronic and subspace on the slipspace plane. However, despite this, over the internal speakers of the ship the soft, somber tones of a human song picked up by the unit during their last visit to the SSC droned on;
Here I am, on the road again. There I am, up on the stage. Here I go, playing the star again. There I go, turn the page.
The life of a Coalition Marine was a lonesome one, every Teruvian knew it. In a society where families were always on a nearby ship... familial ties were powerful and close. But the life of the Navy Personnel, especially Marines, were hard. Separated for months at a time on patrols, oft times the Marines were doing things like this... with little to no hope of coming back if they didn't succeed at their mission.
Coalition Marines were somber, quiet, and cynical. Far from the clichés of loud, blood thirsty, violence they were portrayed by in the 3D Vids. Lance Corporal Vincent Dahar was no different, the 4 Foot tall Lizard sat, staring down at his rifle as he sifted through the informational windows viewed in his mind's eye and listened to Top go over the plan once more as updated scans showed them the interior of the ship and their routes of deployment.
He quietly scanned the Mk. VII SMLE, a Bolt Action Laser Rifle. The rifles seemed to be unique among the scale of the galaxy, a cartridge based laser rifle. Each cartridge had a single super-high output battery tipped with a high intensity LED and a primary focusing lens. The "Barrel" of the rifle then continued focusing the beam of light through a series of micro-mirror and lenses until it exited the barrel with a powerful, super-high intensity and very tightly focused bolt of light.
The power of the LED, the emittance of heat from the battery burning itself alive for that brief microsecond, and the initial burn of the light through the primary focusing lens caused the cartridge to instantly warp, cracking the lens and burning out the Diode. Typically this would sideline any laser weapon, trading use off for sheer power... but the Coalition had solved this issue by implementing a simplified Bolt-Action system, extracting the super-heated useless cartridge and them chambering a new cold one ready to fire immediately when the bolt settled.
This simple mechanism allowed for an extremely powerful laser in a small, easily handled, and non-cumbersome platform that was reusable and had a relatively high rate of fire. It allowed the Marine Riflemen incredibly accurate, and immensely powerful energy weapons with no recoil and relatively lightweight ammunition compared to similarly powerful, accurate, and ranged chemical based slug weapons.
That, combined with the softly glowing 14 inch double-edge sword Bayonet mounted on the tip of the barrel gave the Teruvians a vicious bite in melee-combat that was backed by a vibro-tomahawk on each of their hips.
Suddenly, portrayed on the inside of his mind's eye was the bright red "BRACE" alert. He felt the seat tighten around his body as he braced his feet and pressed his shoulder blades into the crash-couch. Then, with a violent *SLAM!* fog from the compressing and ionizing fluid that was inside of the shock-absorbers filled the compartment... his vision switched as the nano-impants behind his eyes began reading a different wavelength of energy... giving him a hazy -- but clear view. Instantly his seat released, he lifted his rifle as he stood up even as the crash couch's straps were still releasing.
His squad was the first off, and as Vincent Dahar turned he was already moving towards the door slamming open. His rifle was up, scanning the compartment beyond as he rushed up to the door. Reaching into his hip-pouch he pulled out the small Mk. 42 Nano-unit and pressed the applicator against the edges of the door. He activated it not with a button, but via his Wireless connection via implants as he drug the nanites across the edges of the door before engaging them.
Nano-Dissassemblers. The nanites began taking the chemical bonds between the atoms of the metals and anything in the door apart, and soon the edge of the door was grey sludge... allowing it to flop inwards. The Nano-Dissassemblers immediately went about eating themselves to stop a spread or them being used again. But, that was something else... His rifle scanned the hallway as he led the way in, the marine fireteam breaching the door carefully, a classic criss-cross entry before they began moving down the hallway en-route to their target. They were to liberate - and then arm - the POWs while another Ramship's complement of Navy and Marine personnel were focused upon gaining control of the bridge... and another focused on gaining control of whatever engine room or core was left.
15 seconds, like clockwork.
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The view of the boarding ships was a violent affair from space. The deep red missiles came lancing in at flank speeds towards the enemy vessel, drive burning brightly in space as their shielding was focused forward. Incoming contacts were swatted away by the CPLs mounted in the after Midships turrets, but when the time came... the rippling fire of the eight Ion Cannons, followed by the eight CPLs was noticeable, as they punched through any shielding they met and then punched a massive hole in the armor... or at least weakened it with the spinal weaponry.
Then, they impacted. The forward quarter of the ship compressed visibly backwards in a great plume of ionized hydrogen and oxygen as the Hydraulic rams took up the impact as the ships buried their noses into the side of the enemy vessel. Their engines died... and their job was complete. All boarding teams launched safely.
Elsewhere in battle, the Coalition had consolidated their forces and moved to secure the area around the ships being boarded or detained while the SSC chased off the pirate forces. The entire squadron seemed to descend upon what ships they had left behind, using CPL and missile fire to disable engines while the Gunships performed precise strikes against weapons mounts, and engines as well.
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Post by EmperorMyric on Dec 16, 2017 19:51:14 GMT
Somewhere in space, near Union territory, Coalition convoy under attack
Coran grunted. He was somewhat angry yet pleased. It was a confusing mix of emotions however the battle had played out both to their advantage and yet had been a disaster at the same time. The supplies had been secured and were with 100% certainty going to be able to be taken from the battle straight to the shipyards at Rubikon in Capitol space. Along with this several enemy ships had taken damage and some had even been destroyed. However it had been a somewhat hollow victory. All 3 of the forces here had taken casualties, Capitol, Shadowblade and the Shadow Guard had all taken losses. More than this their secrecy had been broken and the prisoners that had been taken were being taken back by enemy boarding teams. The escort in question had been abandoned as the Dark Triumvirate forces fell back. It was a few minutes to the jump point and Coran had both the hologram of the Shadow Guard captain and the Shadowblade commander Xarcsen standing next to him. The void in front of the ships was lit up the fire as the two fleets exchanged fire as the DT forces retreated, though the fire had slackened somewhat. The enemy knew the Dark Triumvirate forces were retreating and so were consolidating their positions and starting to pick over the wreckage, including the convoy that they had raided. However they wouldn’t find much, only the bodies of the fallen.
“This battle would of gone far smoother and better had I been in command” The Shadow Guard commander said, his black moving aura surrounded him like a dark mist. His retort wasn’t so much toward Coran but Xarcsen. The Shadowblade commander instantly snapped back.
“My forces acted out of defiance! They ignored my command and now we have to pay the price! Do not blame this on me!” He shouted back, Coran turned and shouted at them.
“Who’s fault it is has no relevance any more! When we get back all our heads will be on the line! All we can do is hope the supplies we gathered is enough to cover our losses and our breaking of secrecy... I doubt it but we shall see. Now, how long to jump?” Coran asked angrily. He hated the fact his head was on the line because of some stupid bastard in a ship ignoring orders.
“2 minutes sir, we are almost at the jump point” Came a reply and Xarcsen nodded.
“At least we wont have any more losses”
Coran laughed, either way we are screwed. If I had a choice I would rather die here fighting the battle that in front of a firing squad back home. Prepare jump engines, jump when ready” The crew burst into action and The two other commanders gave each other a nod then the holograms disappeared. Soon after the Dark Triumvirate while under fire, engaged their jump engines and in flashes of light disappeared from the area to wherever they had come from. The battle was over, however losses were high and another battle still raged on in the hallways of the small Capitol escort.
On board the Capitol Escort, fire fights between Coalition forces and Capitol forces in progress
The Coalition boarding teams entered the cramped ship rapidly, most didn’t have any resistance straight away however some ran into make shift blockades raised by the Capitol crew. The Capitol forces were a rag tag bunch of crew who had been given automatic weapons and thrown into combat, though some carried proper body armour and heavier armaments. Among them some heavier weapons had been brought up, large calibre machine guns and a few anti material rifles had been put into mounts. On board ship security turrets also activated to spray automatic fire down the cramped corridors. These however were only makeshift defences. The forces on board didn’t expect to last long. However the Commissars on the bridge and some in the decks were determined to make the enemy play in blood. The commissars themselves carried powerful pistols and descent armour, they barked orders to the men and executed any who ran or refused to fight. When the Coalition came, they would be ready. Though they would fall they would fight until their due time. Such was the Capitol way.
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