Post by EmperorMyric on Dec 16, 2017 20:05:00 GMT
“It could be said that the offensive of 2057 was one of the largest endeavours undertaken in the new galaxy. Indeed it featured a number of firsts and saw the use of several technologies previously unknown. The reality is that it was not the first, before it, the first action in response to activity by the enemy was performed on a grander scale. The historical texts forget the battle of Leander Strait as the military operation that came before.”
20:41:05 Position Unknown
The difficulties of conducting a aggressive search given the vastness of space were one of the worries of a star navy. Unlike their maritime precursors, battle tended to occur in a limited number of dimensions and thus searching yielded only two results, things that floated and things that did not. In space, there was very little limit to that vertical aspect of confrontation, which lay coupled with the realities of the horizontal axis of action as well. Battles were fought in the enormity of the stars that were not the master piece of groups of big warships travelling in lines to the enemy but rather based on a navy’s ability to find then engage. In the wake of the failed attempt to assault the nation with a biological weapon, the normal restraints for naval warfare had ended with the formal announcement of unconditional war against the perpetrators. For that, scores of hunting fleet assets originally in reserve were diverted from a number of strategic angles, and even R.U.S.E.’s wandering eye was focused on an expanse of space known as the Leander straight for its unusual geophysical characteristics. It had been less than a week since the objects were halted at the exclusion zone and in other quarters most were being quietly disposed of.
Of course the when, where and what was just a small part of the equation as the details of who and how were no less pressing. Enter the brief chapter in this segment of the story; one could call it the day that civility took a vacation. It begins with the actions aboard just one Decatur class warship named the SCS Macon II. The vessel itself was operating as a portion of the lead element of the search for the enemy operating well ahead of allied forces the member of the hunting fleet only had intermittent allied contact as was standard procedure during such actions. Running silent the vessel crept between the planes of existence looking for something, anything, no one knew precisely what the enemy ships looked like, but were provided with the latest sensory information from R.U.S.E. and similar DHR assets which painted a sensory profile. There was a trail and a definite emissions profile to look for, if only the cosmos were not so big.
Commander Bongani paced his bridge impatiently waiting for an indicator from somewhere. The waiting around itself was the worst part those eternal seeming moments where one waited for something to occur. The tension aboard the ship itself was incredible to say the least. As if to emphasize the gravity of things the SOMC detachment was stationed visible in full combat gear at every major intersection and were manning more than a few weapon stations. Nothing of this level had been seen since the last big Iklawha assault and even they never used super weapons because somewhere in their convoluted logic they knew it denied them planetary resources as well. Every crewmember aboard was armed with at least a side arm and some with far more as noted with the SOMC detachment who were likely prepared for boarding actions and thus patrolled the ship in limited fashion in specialized E.V.A. powered armor suits just for the purpose. Overall the ship was a rather quiet affair as the crew knew full well that excess noise created distraction, and distraction could often be fatal under combat conditions.
The bridge itself was a quiet as was reasonable with the punctuated sound of the assorted controls and such making rhythmic noises that almost resembled a heartbeat. It was as if one could say the ship was alive and the crew part of its makeup and thus they were in tune with its nominal functions. Cautiously the commander walked over to the sensor stations and leaned against the top of a bank of sensor system panels moving in close to whisper to the Junior Lieutenant who stared into an asset of instruments not unlike a microscope of sorts with a rubberized gasket about the eyepiece to block any outside light as one looked upon the information received.
“Anything?”
“Cold trails commander.”
“Damn! Anyone else.”
“Commander, cold trails are still trails…these people are very sloppy.”
“Mhmm? Continue.”
“Their engines are leaving particles at a fraction of parts per billion, anions, Hyperion isotopes and a well decayed temporal particle trace.”
“You know command won’t go for that.”
“No they won’t, but we had parts per trillion twenty minutes ago. We are close, I just require time sir.”
“You will have it, let me know if anything changes.”
21:03:14 Position Unknown
Little had changed for the Macon as the search area rabidly narrowed and several. False alarms by other fleet elements had broken the nerve-wracking intensity of the situation. The DHR in a position on the flank had made some progress in scouting a location previously held by the enemy and more so several H-type units were now interdicting the region. If the enemy remained they certainly would have no means to leave. The joint response between SSC and DHR assets at the air incredible sophistication as both nations worked together so well that there was little inefficiency to be had between them. Obviously there was some friendly competition in the combat units about who might engage or board first or perhaps the hottest topic, who would report a vessel cleared and captured first. The hemispherical search area had narrowed to a single three dimensional series of four sub sectors. Thus far the search had been a bust but the sighting of more condensed particulate traces had ensured the search would be continued. The Junior Lieutenant in charge of sensor operations looked away from his console towards the ship’s commander
“Commander I have something due 108 it is within mast range.”
“Enemy contact or…”
“I cannot say…but it may be what we are looking for or a lot of space debris.”
The commander walked across the cramped space of the bridge towards a console that hung from the ceiling a bit in front of the CO’s chair. Reaching up for the device two grips lowered from the side and the module that composed the device lowered to the captain’s eye level.
“Helm, slow to twenty percent sublight…chief I need all hands to observe blackout status…”
The chief engineer whom was to the rear of the bridge monitoring the power systems nodded to the order and began to type the silence order for the rest of the crew. Meanwhile two helmsmen up near the front of the bridge began slowing the craft with a mixture of reduced propulsion and feather light use of the counter-thrusters. The change from three quarters sub-light speed to twenty percent was so smooth in the seconds after as to be almost imperceptible. The commander peered into the eye pieces of the Console and the heads-up-display denoted the ships relative speed and a number of other critical factors to maneuvering and potentially engaging in combat. Munitions information was arrayed in short form as well as weapons, propulsion, stealth system and other such flickered in a shade of green to the bottom of the display. Meanwhile space outside was displayed in four tactical dimensions, with space being shown in hexagonal units. Small pockets of gas, micro meteors and shards of artificial materials flickered in the area observed. The commander adjusted the resolution of his view as he carefully swept the angle of view horizontally in a motion often called ‘pan and scan’ by some ship’s tactical officers. By slowly increasing the view magnification a swathe of space was seen and effectively searched in greater detail then main sensors under stealth might be able to. It would take a few moments but there…something was off Additional magnification was used as well as a slight realignment of the mast’s optronic array. It was then the image became clear, it was that of a starship’s hull, regardless the energy signature of the craft was clear. There was no time for additional verifications… the temporal residuals coming from the vessel were quite rampant.
“Signal Central, by means of hex-l sub band…inform them we have numerous contacts. Have all forward tubes load warheads with proximity detonation settings…prepare to fire for effect.”
21:27:03 0.6 Astronomical units south of target.
It could have been said that one of the most arduous departments in the ship was the engine room especially during a crisis; however the reality was that the munitions bay was a serious contender. One misstep and a single unit of ordinance could be dropped and go off ensuring complete annihilation. Likewise if the area was hit there was a probability of a munitions detonation that would easily snuff the lives of an entire crew. Great effort was made over the ages as munitions advanced to also investigate, understand and mitigate the risk of such an incidence. The SSC had invested a lot of time to the prevention of such and despite such precautions, the Munitions bay or in common terms the torpedo bay was still a frenetic spot of activity where the stress was thick enough to realistically be cut with a knife. The last set of torpedoes with switched warheads had been fired as part of a clustered stream of eighteen net coordinated attacks. Others in preparation to be fired were being worked on, their warhead modules actively being switched for the enhanced special yield type warhead. But such a state was not out of the normal as no ship operated by the SSC ever had their torpedoes armed with anything other than some set yield version of the planar torpedo so famous for wreaking havoc on flux targets. As a matter of safety and policy the enhanced special yield warheads were stored in four separate pieces. Each warhead component was kept separate from the others and was under proverbial lock and key. More so no vessel cleared the carry the warheads ever had them maintained in ready to fire status because of the risk of what an armed unit could do if accidentally set off.
For today this risk wasn’t really the biggest one…the Macon in her second incarnation got to witness why these weapons where the subject of so much restriction and precaution. As the sensors tracked the eighteen warheads on their pattern outward with destinations equally enveloping the enemy launch vessels More than one set of eyes watched curiously no doubt wondering what might come of the weapons detonations. The crew of the Macon II didn’t have to wait very long The time ticked down as the targets struggled to move finding their means of FTL jammed and their sublight propulsion compromised.
At the stroke 21:30 or 9:30 in normal time the Cascade of proximity detonations went off washing the targets with a wave of energy that wrought terrible consequences. While the targets systems would be blinded and unable to communicate beyond their own hulls the crews within would bear the brunt of the blast wave as unseen energies ravaged neurological pathways and cybernetic implants where hit with equal chaos. The targeted ship’s crews staggered where they stood or sat as their involuntary processes began to sputter even voluntarily actions were ceased. Even the basic thought process a fraction of a second in were completely wiped as the brains of the crew literally began to cook off due to wild neurons misfiring blasting away their own grey matter on the cellular equivalent of a violent nervous system riot. Coupled with the FTL and Temporal jamming provided generously by R.U.S.E. the fleet would begin moving in as the effects subsided in all cases the assembled fleets of SSC and DHR finally moved in to take their prizes of war. Despite the apparent crippling of the targets in all quarters with a few destroyed when they attempted flight…precautions were taken in the advent that more of their cargo was on-board should it have gotten loose.
The first phase of Operation blackball had been completed, all because the enemy could not rationalize. The captured units once verified to be clear were split along predetermined numbers between the DHR and SSC. Any vessels where there was any culture of the contaminant carried in the pods launched at a SSC territory that had escaped containment were destroyed by means of the nearest and largest star. Any still contained modules containing the contagion factor or equipment with it in containment were likewise disposed of for the safety of all. The ramifications of the end to this episode in galactic military history would find themselves far reaching in coloring the diplomatic stance of the SSC in later days. The new end justified the new means in handling the aggression of the Flux and their Immortal Empire allies. Some could say that if the biological attack was the shot heard across the galaxy…then the swift capture of the majority of the launch fleet could have been SSC’s Trafalgar. What was to come next however would eclipse the naval action of Leander Strait.
20:41:05 Position Unknown
The difficulties of conducting a aggressive search given the vastness of space were one of the worries of a star navy. Unlike their maritime precursors, battle tended to occur in a limited number of dimensions and thus searching yielded only two results, things that floated and things that did not. In space, there was very little limit to that vertical aspect of confrontation, which lay coupled with the realities of the horizontal axis of action as well. Battles were fought in the enormity of the stars that were not the master piece of groups of big warships travelling in lines to the enemy but rather based on a navy’s ability to find then engage. In the wake of the failed attempt to assault the nation with a biological weapon, the normal restraints for naval warfare had ended with the formal announcement of unconditional war against the perpetrators. For that, scores of hunting fleet assets originally in reserve were diverted from a number of strategic angles, and even R.U.S.E.’s wandering eye was focused on an expanse of space known as the Leander straight for its unusual geophysical characteristics. It had been less than a week since the objects were halted at the exclusion zone and in other quarters most were being quietly disposed of.
Of course the when, where and what was just a small part of the equation as the details of who and how were no less pressing. Enter the brief chapter in this segment of the story; one could call it the day that civility took a vacation. It begins with the actions aboard just one Decatur class warship named the SCS Macon II. The vessel itself was operating as a portion of the lead element of the search for the enemy operating well ahead of allied forces the member of the hunting fleet only had intermittent allied contact as was standard procedure during such actions. Running silent the vessel crept between the planes of existence looking for something, anything, no one knew precisely what the enemy ships looked like, but were provided with the latest sensory information from R.U.S.E. and similar DHR assets which painted a sensory profile. There was a trail and a definite emissions profile to look for, if only the cosmos were not so big.
Commander Bongani paced his bridge impatiently waiting for an indicator from somewhere. The waiting around itself was the worst part those eternal seeming moments where one waited for something to occur. The tension aboard the ship itself was incredible to say the least. As if to emphasize the gravity of things the SOMC detachment was stationed visible in full combat gear at every major intersection and were manning more than a few weapon stations. Nothing of this level had been seen since the last big Iklawha assault and even they never used super weapons because somewhere in their convoluted logic they knew it denied them planetary resources as well. Every crewmember aboard was armed with at least a side arm and some with far more as noted with the SOMC detachment who were likely prepared for boarding actions and thus patrolled the ship in limited fashion in specialized E.V.A. powered armor suits just for the purpose. Overall the ship was a rather quiet affair as the crew knew full well that excess noise created distraction, and distraction could often be fatal under combat conditions.
The bridge itself was a quiet as was reasonable with the punctuated sound of the assorted controls and such making rhythmic noises that almost resembled a heartbeat. It was as if one could say the ship was alive and the crew part of its makeup and thus they were in tune with its nominal functions. Cautiously the commander walked over to the sensor stations and leaned against the top of a bank of sensor system panels moving in close to whisper to the Junior Lieutenant who stared into an asset of instruments not unlike a microscope of sorts with a rubberized gasket about the eyepiece to block any outside light as one looked upon the information received.
“Anything?”
“Cold trails commander.”
“Damn! Anyone else.”
“Commander, cold trails are still trails…these people are very sloppy.”
“Mhmm? Continue.”
“Their engines are leaving particles at a fraction of parts per billion, anions, Hyperion isotopes and a well decayed temporal particle trace.”
“You know command won’t go for that.”
“No they won’t, but we had parts per trillion twenty minutes ago. We are close, I just require time sir.”
“You will have it, let me know if anything changes.”
21:03:14 Position Unknown
Little had changed for the Macon as the search area rabidly narrowed and several. False alarms by other fleet elements had broken the nerve-wracking intensity of the situation. The DHR in a position on the flank had made some progress in scouting a location previously held by the enemy and more so several H-type units were now interdicting the region. If the enemy remained they certainly would have no means to leave. The joint response between SSC and DHR assets at the air incredible sophistication as both nations worked together so well that there was little inefficiency to be had between them. Obviously there was some friendly competition in the combat units about who might engage or board first or perhaps the hottest topic, who would report a vessel cleared and captured first. The hemispherical search area had narrowed to a single three dimensional series of four sub sectors. Thus far the search had been a bust but the sighting of more condensed particulate traces had ensured the search would be continued. The Junior Lieutenant in charge of sensor operations looked away from his console towards the ship’s commander
“Commander I have something due 108 it is within mast range.”
“Enemy contact or…”
“I cannot say…but it may be what we are looking for or a lot of space debris.”
The commander walked across the cramped space of the bridge towards a console that hung from the ceiling a bit in front of the CO’s chair. Reaching up for the device two grips lowered from the side and the module that composed the device lowered to the captain’s eye level.
“Helm, slow to twenty percent sublight…chief I need all hands to observe blackout status…”
The chief engineer whom was to the rear of the bridge monitoring the power systems nodded to the order and began to type the silence order for the rest of the crew. Meanwhile two helmsmen up near the front of the bridge began slowing the craft with a mixture of reduced propulsion and feather light use of the counter-thrusters. The change from three quarters sub-light speed to twenty percent was so smooth in the seconds after as to be almost imperceptible. The commander peered into the eye pieces of the Console and the heads-up-display denoted the ships relative speed and a number of other critical factors to maneuvering and potentially engaging in combat. Munitions information was arrayed in short form as well as weapons, propulsion, stealth system and other such flickered in a shade of green to the bottom of the display. Meanwhile space outside was displayed in four tactical dimensions, with space being shown in hexagonal units. Small pockets of gas, micro meteors and shards of artificial materials flickered in the area observed. The commander adjusted the resolution of his view as he carefully swept the angle of view horizontally in a motion often called ‘pan and scan’ by some ship’s tactical officers. By slowly increasing the view magnification a swathe of space was seen and effectively searched in greater detail then main sensors under stealth might be able to. It would take a few moments but there…something was off Additional magnification was used as well as a slight realignment of the mast’s optronic array. It was then the image became clear, it was that of a starship’s hull, regardless the energy signature of the craft was clear. There was no time for additional verifications… the temporal residuals coming from the vessel were quite rampant.
“Signal Central, by means of hex-l sub band…inform them we have numerous contacts. Have all forward tubes load warheads with proximity detonation settings…prepare to fire for effect.”
21:27:03 0.6 Astronomical units south of target.
It could have been said that one of the most arduous departments in the ship was the engine room especially during a crisis; however the reality was that the munitions bay was a serious contender. One misstep and a single unit of ordinance could be dropped and go off ensuring complete annihilation. Likewise if the area was hit there was a probability of a munitions detonation that would easily snuff the lives of an entire crew. Great effort was made over the ages as munitions advanced to also investigate, understand and mitigate the risk of such an incidence. The SSC had invested a lot of time to the prevention of such and despite such precautions, the Munitions bay or in common terms the torpedo bay was still a frenetic spot of activity where the stress was thick enough to realistically be cut with a knife. The last set of torpedoes with switched warheads had been fired as part of a clustered stream of eighteen net coordinated attacks. Others in preparation to be fired were being worked on, their warhead modules actively being switched for the enhanced special yield type warhead. But such a state was not out of the normal as no ship operated by the SSC ever had their torpedoes armed with anything other than some set yield version of the planar torpedo so famous for wreaking havoc on flux targets. As a matter of safety and policy the enhanced special yield warheads were stored in four separate pieces. Each warhead component was kept separate from the others and was under proverbial lock and key. More so no vessel cleared the carry the warheads ever had them maintained in ready to fire status because of the risk of what an armed unit could do if accidentally set off.
For today this risk wasn’t really the biggest one…the Macon in her second incarnation got to witness why these weapons where the subject of so much restriction and precaution. As the sensors tracked the eighteen warheads on their pattern outward with destinations equally enveloping the enemy launch vessels More than one set of eyes watched curiously no doubt wondering what might come of the weapons detonations. The crew of the Macon II didn’t have to wait very long The time ticked down as the targets struggled to move finding their means of FTL jammed and their sublight propulsion compromised.
At the stroke 21:30 or 9:30 in normal time the Cascade of proximity detonations went off washing the targets with a wave of energy that wrought terrible consequences. While the targets systems would be blinded and unable to communicate beyond their own hulls the crews within would bear the brunt of the blast wave as unseen energies ravaged neurological pathways and cybernetic implants where hit with equal chaos. The targeted ship’s crews staggered where they stood or sat as their involuntary processes began to sputter even voluntarily actions were ceased. Even the basic thought process a fraction of a second in were completely wiped as the brains of the crew literally began to cook off due to wild neurons misfiring blasting away their own grey matter on the cellular equivalent of a violent nervous system riot. Coupled with the FTL and Temporal jamming provided generously by R.U.S.E. the fleet would begin moving in as the effects subsided in all cases the assembled fleets of SSC and DHR finally moved in to take their prizes of war. Despite the apparent crippling of the targets in all quarters with a few destroyed when they attempted flight…precautions were taken in the advent that more of their cargo was on-board should it have gotten loose.
The first phase of Operation blackball had been completed, all because the enemy could not rationalize. The captured units once verified to be clear were split along predetermined numbers between the DHR and SSC. Any vessels where there was any culture of the contaminant carried in the pods launched at a SSC territory that had escaped containment were destroyed by means of the nearest and largest star. Any still contained modules containing the contagion factor or equipment with it in containment were likewise disposed of for the safety of all. The ramifications of the end to this episode in galactic military history would find themselves far reaching in coloring the diplomatic stance of the SSC in later days. The new end justified the new means in handling the aggression of the Flux and their Immortal Empire allies. Some could say that if the biological attack was the shot heard across the galaxy…then the swift capture of the majority of the launch fleet could have been SSC’s Trafalgar. What was to come next however would eclipse the naval action of Leander Strait.