Post by EmperorMyric on Dec 16, 2017 19:39:29 GMT
12:43:09 Territorial Control Center, R.U.S.E. Command.
The spiraling masses of the region lay in easily observable from on the display rendered in true-color four dimensional formats within the circular projection tank. The round display system spanned three floors and had its primary emitters buried an additional floor above and below its display apparatus. The swirling images of the galaxy would have been breath taking for a new comer to the facility seeing it the first few times. The assorted personnel who toiled nearby had of course seen it enough times that the awestruck wonder had worn mostly off. But the focus as it stood, was a smaller area noted to be roughly near Union space. The image of the area was magnified a few thousand times to minute detail, Indicated in red was a coalition distress signal and the telltale signs of weapons fire. Other objects seemed to be moving possibly the perpetrators but given the passive range of the scan and other factors including the limited allowance for diversion from the current task of neutralizing the Immortal Empire-Tenebrae combat region from interference by temporal incursion those assembled were finding other means to get a good look at what was going on in the area.
“It could be a false call like the one at proxima-alpha last week.”
“Come on now, that doesn’t make any sense. This one was too loud to be anything but an actual warship in distress, the spatial residue of weapons fire supports it as legitimate.”
“The probability of it being real is quite high commander, I’ve run the numbers a few differing ways and they’re all above 70%.”
Off to one side sat another seemingly out of the conversation entirely despite working at one of the stations included in the group’s section. As the others debated the nature of the distress call and its placement and timing relative to the latest wave of pirate attacks he sat with eyes closed holding one ear of a set of heavy headphones to one ear with eyes closed. His other hand gently worked the controls of the sensor system delicately adjusting numerous settings in a graceful means almost to the level of a skilled pianist. The individual listened with his other ear not to the ramblings of his comrades but to the actual machine he was working as it issued low sounds resembling static with the occasional punctuation of a harmonic tone. The goal was to do something rather difficult, listen to the background echoes of the universe their energy frequencies and catch a faint strain the faintest rumbling of a confirmed battle. The noise generated by the assorted star empires made this incredibly difficult as their ships rumbled and belched energy and through it noise into the galactic medium. Wait; there was something, a rattling screech…and another, this one the sound of metal on metal. Other began to follow and behind the individual the others had stopped conversing as the noises effectively ended any debate when the punctuated rumble and groan of the last moments of the Aubrey Noir. The groans of structural members giving way was followed by the wail of vented atmosphere and finally a deafening rumble of the craft finally giving into its torment with a violent explosion. With that the individual stood setting the headphones aside and made an one handed gesture to them opening his eyes. The sound of a voice rattled across their consciousness, no doubt from their silent member.
*I tAkE iT, tHiS sEtTlEs YoUr DeBaTe? WhAt VeSsElS aRe AvAiLiBlE fOr InTeRcEpTiOn?*
One of the assembled personnel who was a bit less stunned by the end of the coalition vessel then the others began to check on a remotely linked data device. The information was relatively sparse, for the lack of vessels that could arrive in time, and have any palpable effect. Civilian cargo haulers, hospital ships, even a handful of new luxury liners travelling well within the blue zone, none of which was actually useful for the purposes of interception. One possible hope glimmered amidst all the incompatible vessels for the now urgent mission just out of the local sector and operating on the border of the green zone.
“There is one joint territorial unit operating near Carnifex… they have the profile to get there in appreciable time.
*It Is WeSsEr’S gRoUp CoRrEcT?*
“Affirmative, Wesser’s patrol and a Territorial navy patrol are preforming maneuvers… inventories say all are equipped for combat.”
*SeNd ThEm ThEiR NeW oRdErS, wItH aS mUcH sItUaTiOnAl DaTa aS iS NeEdEd .*
12:45:00 Carnifex Proving Range
The range itself was a secured position, buried within the ‘white zone’ of the Euphredes region, and despite being called a proving range it was more or less an obstacle course for warships. The placement of interstellar objects and man-made objects that at times due to solar wind moved or were propelled by hidden micro thrusters made the course one of the hardest SSC had ever constructed. Unlike the others such proving grounds used by the SSC this one featured automated live fire weapons that used both SSC armaments and approximations of weapon used by other star nations with a rotating placement so no two runs were the same. Crews who dared challenge the Carnifex run were actually under true live fire conditions and did indeed risk life and limb for one critical achievement and a special service award. The few who had completed the run at an acceptable rating all skipped two grades and gained the ‘northern point’ marker on their insignia, commonly called the blood star in service it indicated the individual had passed the hunting fleet’s toughest test. But for the group in question that didn’t much matter they had other concerns to worry for at the moment.
The rounded hull of the SSCS Star Slayer roared over the jagged expanse of a crystalline asteroid throwing up particulate dust on the almost quartz like shimmering surface. Behind the warship were the others, the SSCS Vindicator, Seydlitz, and farther back the territorials acting in close support. The Star slayer Juked about the moving objects in the field with the grace of a fine fighter even going so far as to twist and turn between two objects that collided shortly after. The Seydlitz and the Vindicator likewise maintained their positions to the port and starboard of the Star Slayer performing their own series of such maneuvers to maintain pace. The territorial fleet vessels behind Maneuvered also albeit with a lot less of the daredevil acrobatics of their forward comrades. At the heard of the territorials was the STS Andex, followed by Sliver and, Nankeen . The lead territorial ship was in contrast to the entire group as it was a military grade spinal carrier whereas the other two vessels belonged to the relatively new Halsey class endurance escort line. The group maneuvered about a set of obstacles only to find a series of enemy vessels closing in, what appeared to be flux vessels no less. In reality however the ‘flux’ vessels were very clever mock-ups using data from prior encounters and operated by limited artificial intelligence with a series of maneuvers that would not be possible with live crews aboard. The weapons too were base approximations and the ships involved would indeed register the same sort of damage they would if the enemy vessels were real.
“Captain, enemy ahead, looks like five units, two types, range is thirty seven kilometers and closing.”
Captain Wesser looked to the Tactical display to see the vessels in question already beginning to maneuver in preparation for whatever he had planned. Captain Wesser considered the enemy for a moment and gestured to the weapons officer and just as the orders were to leave his lips the course powered down, and all the holographic damage to the group vanished. Most of his bridge crew appeared to be a mix of disappointed and bewildered by the sudden end to their combat run. The ship’s first officer looked down at a status display a bit frustrated as this wasn’t the first time this had happened in the last two weeks.
“What? Don’t tell me we broke it again!”
Chief Engineer Daugherty looked to the first officer with an almost mocking smile at the comment before taping a few commands into the system monitor. The one thing that had changed about Wesser’s crew was the new vessel. It was no less of an aggressive asset, but the crew was larger, the inclusion of new crewmen on the bridge changed things a bit. Prior Captain Wesser hadn’t had a First Officer, however now because of the Star Slayer class’s new tactical roles it required one. Then again to be the first in line to operate the first of an entire class made the changes worth it. Even so, the sold crew had at tomes taken to hazing or gently joking with the new crew members as was the case with the Chief Engineers borderline sarcastic reply to the first officer’s comments.
“No it normally flickers a bit first, the systems been shut down at control. But you know if your helmsman would stop doing those crazy maneuvers the targeting AI’s on the course would stop having seizures.”
A repeating tone from the communications station caught the attention of most of the crew, was it the control personnel working on the course telling them the system had caught fire again? The Lieutenant worked through the heavy encryption state the critical parts as he went.
“We have a urgent priority message from R.U.S.E. We are to head to coordinates 4050-60-9010 to respond to a Coalition Distress call. We are to engage all pirates found in the vicinity, and destroy any pirate warships or cargo vessels found to be present. If possible we are also t rescue any survivors from any coalition vessels found to have been destroyed or abandoned. It’s an immediate response order…I’ve put the full file on your personal device captain. Oh, R.U.S.E. sends its apologies, and Fleet Admiral Personally has said ‘It is not as if you haven’t already beaten carnifex before.”
The witty comment of was more meant in jest then in fact, as it was true that Wesser and his crew had beaten the Carnifex run before setting a still standing record, however that was with the Oradell and not with the new ship. Indeed at this point the run was merely about bragging rights as the crews aboard the other vessels in the group had also performed the run a few times. Fleet Admiral Seele, more or less was a desk admiral, simply because the SSC could not spare him for anything other than handling intelligence gathering and apparently today listening for the demise of a coalition vessel to verify a incidence of piracy.
“Leave it to Seele to make a point, let’s get to it then. All hands prepare for transit to a combat zone. We move out as soon as the hyperdrives are ready!”
The assembled vessels of the group moved into transit formation and within moments they flickered out of the confines of the course on route towards the distress call. The transit would take a few minutes absolutely long enough for the pre-emergence scanners to get a good look at the area surrounding the last known location of the Aubrey Noir.
The spiraling masses of the region lay in easily observable from on the display rendered in true-color four dimensional formats within the circular projection tank. The round display system spanned three floors and had its primary emitters buried an additional floor above and below its display apparatus. The swirling images of the galaxy would have been breath taking for a new comer to the facility seeing it the first few times. The assorted personnel who toiled nearby had of course seen it enough times that the awestruck wonder had worn mostly off. But the focus as it stood, was a smaller area noted to be roughly near Union space. The image of the area was magnified a few thousand times to minute detail, Indicated in red was a coalition distress signal and the telltale signs of weapons fire. Other objects seemed to be moving possibly the perpetrators but given the passive range of the scan and other factors including the limited allowance for diversion from the current task of neutralizing the Immortal Empire-Tenebrae combat region from interference by temporal incursion those assembled were finding other means to get a good look at what was going on in the area.
“It could be a false call like the one at proxima-alpha last week.”
“Come on now, that doesn’t make any sense. This one was too loud to be anything but an actual warship in distress, the spatial residue of weapons fire supports it as legitimate.”
“The probability of it being real is quite high commander, I’ve run the numbers a few differing ways and they’re all above 70%.”
Off to one side sat another seemingly out of the conversation entirely despite working at one of the stations included in the group’s section. As the others debated the nature of the distress call and its placement and timing relative to the latest wave of pirate attacks he sat with eyes closed holding one ear of a set of heavy headphones to one ear with eyes closed. His other hand gently worked the controls of the sensor system delicately adjusting numerous settings in a graceful means almost to the level of a skilled pianist. The individual listened with his other ear not to the ramblings of his comrades but to the actual machine he was working as it issued low sounds resembling static with the occasional punctuation of a harmonic tone. The goal was to do something rather difficult, listen to the background echoes of the universe their energy frequencies and catch a faint strain the faintest rumbling of a confirmed battle. The noise generated by the assorted star empires made this incredibly difficult as their ships rumbled and belched energy and through it noise into the galactic medium. Wait; there was something, a rattling screech…and another, this one the sound of metal on metal. Other began to follow and behind the individual the others had stopped conversing as the noises effectively ended any debate when the punctuated rumble and groan of the last moments of the Aubrey Noir. The groans of structural members giving way was followed by the wail of vented atmosphere and finally a deafening rumble of the craft finally giving into its torment with a violent explosion. With that the individual stood setting the headphones aside and made an one handed gesture to them opening his eyes. The sound of a voice rattled across their consciousness, no doubt from their silent member.
*I tAkE iT, tHiS sEtTlEs YoUr DeBaTe? WhAt VeSsElS aRe AvAiLiBlE fOr InTeRcEpTiOn?*
One of the assembled personnel who was a bit less stunned by the end of the coalition vessel then the others began to check on a remotely linked data device. The information was relatively sparse, for the lack of vessels that could arrive in time, and have any palpable effect. Civilian cargo haulers, hospital ships, even a handful of new luxury liners travelling well within the blue zone, none of which was actually useful for the purposes of interception. One possible hope glimmered amidst all the incompatible vessels for the now urgent mission just out of the local sector and operating on the border of the green zone.
“There is one joint territorial unit operating near Carnifex… they have the profile to get there in appreciable time.
*It Is WeSsEr’S gRoUp CoRrEcT?*
“Affirmative, Wesser’s patrol and a Territorial navy patrol are preforming maneuvers… inventories say all are equipped for combat.”
*SeNd ThEm ThEiR NeW oRdErS, wItH aS mUcH sItUaTiOnAl DaTa aS iS NeEdEd .*
12:45:00 Carnifex Proving Range
The range itself was a secured position, buried within the ‘white zone’ of the Euphredes region, and despite being called a proving range it was more or less an obstacle course for warships. The placement of interstellar objects and man-made objects that at times due to solar wind moved or were propelled by hidden micro thrusters made the course one of the hardest SSC had ever constructed. Unlike the others such proving grounds used by the SSC this one featured automated live fire weapons that used both SSC armaments and approximations of weapon used by other star nations with a rotating placement so no two runs were the same. Crews who dared challenge the Carnifex run were actually under true live fire conditions and did indeed risk life and limb for one critical achievement and a special service award. The few who had completed the run at an acceptable rating all skipped two grades and gained the ‘northern point’ marker on their insignia, commonly called the blood star in service it indicated the individual had passed the hunting fleet’s toughest test. But for the group in question that didn’t much matter they had other concerns to worry for at the moment.
The rounded hull of the SSCS Star Slayer roared over the jagged expanse of a crystalline asteroid throwing up particulate dust on the almost quartz like shimmering surface. Behind the warship were the others, the SSCS Vindicator, Seydlitz, and farther back the territorials acting in close support. The Star slayer Juked about the moving objects in the field with the grace of a fine fighter even going so far as to twist and turn between two objects that collided shortly after. The Seydlitz and the Vindicator likewise maintained their positions to the port and starboard of the Star Slayer performing their own series of such maneuvers to maintain pace. The territorial fleet vessels behind Maneuvered also albeit with a lot less of the daredevil acrobatics of their forward comrades. At the heard of the territorials was the STS Andex, followed by Sliver and, Nankeen . The lead territorial ship was in contrast to the entire group as it was a military grade spinal carrier whereas the other two vessels belonged to the relatively new Halsey class endurance escort line. The group maneuvered about a set of obstacles only to find a series of enemy vessels closing in, what appeared to be flux vessels no less. In reality however the ‘flux’ vessels were very clever mock-ups using data from prior encounters and operated by limited artificial intelligence with a series of maneuvers that would not be possible with live crews aboard. The weapons too were base approximations and the ships involved would indeed register the same sort of damage they would if the enemy vessels were real.
“Captain, enemy ahead, looks like five units, two types, range is thirty seven kilometers and closing.”
Captain Wesser looked to the Tactical display to see the vessels in question already beginning to maneuver in preparation for whatever he had planned. Captain Wesser considered the enemy for a moment and gestured to the weapons officer and just as the orders were to leave his lips the course powered down, and all the holographic damage to the group vanished. Most of his bridge crew appeared to be a mix of disappointed and bewildered by the sudden end to their combat run. The ship’s first officer looked down at a status display a bit frustrated as this wasn’t the first time this had happened in the last two weeks.
“What? Don’t tell me we broke it again!”
Chief Engineer Daugherty looked to the first officer with an almost mocking smile at the comment before taping a few commands into the system monitor. The one thing that had changed about Wesser’s crew was the new vessel. It was no less of an aggressive asset, but the crew was larger, the inclusion of new crewmen on the bridge changed things a bit. Prior Captain Wesser hadn’t had a First Officer, however now because of the Star Slayer class’s new tactical roles it required one. Then again to be the first in line to operate the first of an entire class made the changes worth it. Even so, the sold crew had at tomes taken to hazing or gently joking with the new crew members as was the case with the Chief Engineers borderline sarcastic reply to the first officer’s comments.
“No it normally flickers a bit first, the systems been shut down at control. But you know if your helmsman would stop doing those crazy maneuvers the targeting AI’s on the course would stop having seizures.”
A repeating tone from the communications station caught the attention of most of the crew, was it the control personnel working on the course telling them the system had caught fire again? The Lieutenant worked through the heavy encryption state the critical parts as he went.
“We have a urgent priority message from R.U.S.E. We are to head to coordinates 4050-60-9010 to respond to a Coalition Distress call. We are to engage all pirates found in the vicinity, and destroy any pirate warships or cargo vessels found to be present. If possible we are also t rescue any survivors from any coalition vessels found to have been destroyed or abandoned. It’s an immediate response order…I’ve put the full file on your personal device captain. Oh, R.U.S.E. sends its apologies, and Fleet Admiral Personally has said ‘It is not as if you haven’t already beaten carnifex before.”
The witty comment of was more meant in jest then in fact, as it was true that Wesser and his crew had beaten the Carnifex run before setting a still standing record, however that was with the Oradell and not with the new ship. Indeed at this point the run was merely about bragging rights as the crews aboard the other vessels in the group had also performed the run a few times. Fleet Admiral Seele, more or less was a desk admiral, simply because the SSC could not spare him for anything other than handling intelligence gathering and apparently today listening for the demise of a coalition vessel to verify a incidence of piracy.
“Leave it to Seele to make a point, let’s get to it then. All hands prepare for transit to a combat zone. We move out as soon as the hyperdrives are ready!”
The assembled vessels of the group moved into transit formation and within moments they flickered out of the confines of the course on route towards the distress call. The transit would take a few minutes absolutely long enough for the pre-emergence scanners to get a good look at the area surrounding the last known location of the Aubrey Noir.