NationStates Jolt Archive

((Please bear in mind, it is highly unlikely anyone is going to have 100 supercruisers just hanging around in the area to pick this up. Please keep the number of ships you control in this to a minimum. Thank you. :)))

"...Hello? Hello? Is this even working...?" Peter Goodsmith said into the radio transmitter, then looking at the lack of flashing lights on his antique radio. He sighed then, giving it a firm kick, a few lights flickering for a moment as it echoed through the delaphidated ship that he piloted. The faint buzz of the power pack on the ship also echoed as he breathed the slightly musty air of the ship's interior. It had really been a job even getting the ship to fly out of the hanger on the planet he had refurbished it, let alone make is spaceworthy. He had run out of scrapped titanium that he could purchase in the local scrapyard, so he had had to make do with ultra-dense rusted steel, something that he didn't trust in the slightest in the extreme pressure of space. Most of the hull wasn't even belonging to the shell of a ship he was in, it had been salvaged from that same scrapyard, as had the burnt out weapon that it had as it's only defence... a defence now devoid of power.

He looked to the radio again and gave it another firm kick, this time the lights remaining on. Seeing that as a good sign, he began to talk into the transmitter.

...Hello? Anybody out there? Hey, my name's Peter Goodsmith, pilot of the... erm... well, I don't have a name for my ship yet, only just cobbled it together recently so I didn't have time to apply a coat of paint yet.

Anyway, if there's anyone in the area, I could appreciate a little bit of help. Yeah, my ship... well, it's kind of died on me a bit. The engine's conked out and it won't start up again, no matter how hard I hit it with a spanner. Generator is equally just as dead, which may explain why my engine wasn't too keen on getting going. Life support's on minimum, as usual, but I'm running short on 24V batteries to keep that going, same goes for this transmitter and the fridge. Geeze, the firdge is on it's last legs, I can barely keep a beer cold, let alone keep the sctoch eggs and the cheese in a good state. Heck, I don't even know what time it is, my watch has died on me too.

Anyway... Well, I can't really offer much in return for helping me out... Well, maybe... Ah, there it is! Been saving this for a special occasion this. Crate of whisky, good year for this brand too. So, if you happen to be nearby, give me a buzz on this frequency... if you can even pick it up. I'll be sure we can have a toast at the very least... Well, for now, Peter out.

Peter then placed a small battery in a severely used stereo and from it, very, VERY old rock music was blared out at maximum volume, Peter closing his eyes and bobbing his head to the beat, biting into a scotch egg he had lying around nearby. He could wait, he knew. Until then, why worry about it? It wouldn't do much good getting into a panic.

Scout Squadron 3, consisting of the corvettes Otari and Keila and the frigate Nova was passing through the Sigma Centauri System. On patrol for the local raiders that had killed all passengers on board two luxury liners, scanners were up to full, searching for their trails. The ships moved quickly through space, sweeping the area for any wake emissions. Captain Nathan Velmer stood on the bridge of the Nova, watching out into space, when his Comm officer interrupted him.

"Captain? We're picking up a faint transmission."
"Can you detect the sourse, Watts?"
"Negative, Captain, but I am currently triangulating its position. It seems to be coming from a source somewhat near the outermost planet in this system."
"Well patch it through, Watts, I ain't got all day."
"Roger Captain."

Originally Posted by Low Band Radio Transmission
...Hello? Anybody out there? Hey, my name's Peter Goodsmith, pilot of the... erm... well, I don't have a name for my ship yet, only just cobbled it together recently so I didn't have time to apply a coat of paint yet.

Anyway, if there's anyone in the area, I could appreciate a little bit of help. Yeah, my ship... well, it's kind of died on me a bit. The engine's conked out and it won't start up again, no matter how hard I hit it with a spanner. Generator is equally just as dead, which may explain why my engine wasn't too keen on getting going. Life support's on minimum, as usual, but I'm running short on 24V batteries to keep that going, same goes for this transmitter and the fridge. Geeze, the firdge is on it's last legs, I can barely keep a beer cold, let alone keep the sctoch eggs and the cheese in a good state. Heck, I don't even know what time it is, my watch has died on me too.

Anyway... Well, I can't really offer much in return for helping me out... Well, maybe... Ah, there it is! Been saving this for a special occasion this. Crate of whisky, good year for this brand too. So, if you happen to be nearby, give me a buzz on this frequency... if you can even pick it up. I'll be sure we can have a toast at the very least... Well, for now, Peter out.

Velmer stood for a second as his bridge crew watched him. He turned towards his helm officer then.

"Commander Tarthen."
"Yes sir."
"Plot a course for this...whatever this is's position. I could use some whisky right about now..."

He was already quite a way through the music that he was listening to and now, he'd fallen asleep. There wasn't much of a need for him to be awake, if anyone contacted him he would have been able to hear it well enough. At least the air conditioning hadn't failed too long ago, the air was still bearable. Of course, he had absolutely no idea where he even was or if anyone had got his signal and, most likely, he was going to die out there, out in space. HE wasn't really too phased by that; when you were destined to die, you were going to die. Nothing was going to stop it, so what was the point in worrying about it?

He awoke briefly to reach over to some slightly murky water in a small bottle, drinking it quickly to avoid the bitter aftertaste. He then looked around a little through the small viewing area of the ship, the cockpit. He saw no ships nearby and shrugged, changing tapes on the music device to a different rock band; he could wait...

“I’m getting a transmission Mav.”
“Can you pump it through the speaker? Asked the pilot, Lieutenant Martin, call sign Marvel.
“Yep, hold on” replied Flux, or Lieutenant Green, his ETO.

Originally Posted by Low Band Radio Transmission
...Hello? Anybody out there? Hey, my name's Peter Goodsmith, pilot of the... erm... well, I don't have a name for my ship yet, only just cobbled it together recently so I didn't have time to apply a coat of paint yet.

Anyway, if there's anyone in the area, I could appreciate a little bit of help. Yeah, my ship... well, it's kind of died on me a bit. The engine's conked out and it won't start up again, no matter how hard I hit it with a spanner. Generator is equally just as dead, which may explain why my engine wasn't too keen on getting going. Life support's on minimum, as usual, but I'm running short on 24V batteries to keep that going, same goes for this transmitter and the fridge. Geeze, the firdge is on it's last legs, I can barely keep a beer cold, let alone keep the sctoch eggs and the cheese in a good state. Heck, I don't even know what time it is, my watch has died on me too.

Anyway... Well, I can't really offer much in return for helping me out... Well, maybe... Ah, there it is! Been saving this for a special occasion this. Crate of whisky, good year for this brand too. So, if you happen to be nearby, give me a buzz on this frequency... if you can even pick it up. I'll be sure we can have a toast at the very least... Well, for now, Peter out.

Both men were sat in the cockpit of the Raptor, they were escorted by 2 Zanus heavy fighters.

Mav flicked a switch on his comm-board, linking them with their 2 wingmen.

“Red flight, were going off patrol, we’ve just picked up a distress call within jumping distance… spin up your FTL drives for a jump. Out.” Said Mav, he the turned to Flux, “Can you find out where that transmission came from?”

“Give me a minute, no… wait I’ve got it here,” flux replied as he hammered on the keyboard, “We’re just close enough to get a good fix, the jump should put us within visual distance.”

“Ok,” said mav, sending the jump calculations to the fighters. “Forward the message and our intent to HMS Duke of York and start the jump count-down.”

The Raptors FTL drives made an audible wine as it powered down. Mav quickly went through the checks and nodded briefly to himself that they hadn't flown into a moon.

He and his co-pilot scanned the space in front of them looking for the origin of the distress call.

He flicked a comm switch, "Anyone see anything?"
"Contact bearing SX324." replied one of the fighters.
"Try and contact him Flux."
"Right," said flux punching in a command, "Unidentified ship, this is Raptor x-232. We're responding to your distress call, are you receiving us?"

Peter listened, he had heard that. It was faint, but his radio was recieving it. He tried to tune it into the communication band exactly, yet he almost lost the signal completely, only just able to get it back. He wasn't sure just if the people that were communicating with him wanted to kill him or help him but hey, he had to take a chance on it, didn't he? Holding transmitter in his hand, he spoke into it.

Raptor x-232, this is... unidentified ship. Well, I guess that name'll do for now until I get a better name. Yeah, I'm recieving you. Heck, this thing's making you sound faint, but I'm recieving you. Don't try looking for any electrical or head signitures, I bet this bucket of bolts isn't sending any out. Pretty sure I'll show up on any other detection method though.

The three-ship squadron micro-jumped in to where the coordinates had VIDed the stranded ship's location.

"Bring up a visual, Watts."

Lieutenant Watts brought the picture of the small ship in a holo-pad, along with the Raptor x-232.

"What's that other ship there for? Tryin' to kill him?"
"No sir, it looks like someone beat us to him."

This slightly irritated Velmer. While he could now more effectively go about his mission, he would get a little credit from rescuing the man...

"Flux, get into the back and see if you can ping him." said Mav, hitting a switch on his comms-board, "Red leader, break off and see if you can find him, follow your contact and see what it is." he then switched to the open channel, "Unidentified ship this is Raptor x-232, we need you to start powering up any systems you have, it'll make it easier for us to find you."

The DSRBOT scanned the small solitary moon for the third time within the hour, of course it was a robot and so cared little for the repetitivness of a task especially given that it's mission was so important, this DSRBOT was the first in the third generation, it had far greater autonomy and minor artificial intelligence.

The BOT was a mere 2,000 km from the Donor ship and had began it's third scan when it recieved a message from the dark reaches of what it imagined to be the location known to it as Space, it went over the transmission and picked out key words to determine the importance of the message, words such as "Scotch Egg" "Whisky" and "Beer" both confused and intruiged the simple intelligence as it managed to secure the words "could appreciate a little bit of help".

DSRBOT protocol #147 dictated that in the case of a distress call a BOT should immediatly investigate before vessels are commited, this particular DSRBOT was supposed to have had this function de-activated, the Kadunese were never noted for their engineering skills as the BOT flew off to answer the call.

Peter nodded, tihs was looking good, someone else had turned up. Well, at least he wasn't going to die today, that much was for sure. He picked up the trasmitter again and spoke to the other ship.

Raptor x-232 this is Unidentified ship. Sorry, but what I have right now is as good as it gets. Nothing else is turning on. Heck, I can't even get the engine to fire up a little. I have minimal life support, this radio and the boom-box. Oh, and the fridge, a little. That's about it.

Velmer on board the Nova sent a transmission to the Raptor x-232.

Captain commanding of the starship Raptor x-232, this is Captain Nathan Velmer of the Federation ship Nova. If you're willing to pick this guy up, my ship squadron will be willing to escort you guys through here, as it's contested by several pirate bands right now.

"All right Alpha Wing, form up, lets check this out."

Smiling as three clicks came over the comm., Janson Lathrel pulled his Viper Assault Fighter into a lead position. Behind him, three more of the Fighters came up behind him, forming a diamond shape.

These ships were heavily armed, and fast, but lacking shields. The hull itself was Quantanium, which absorbed energy easily, but even so, it could take only so much abuse. Two Pulse Cannons were visable on the underbelly of the ship, directly beneath the cockpits. The wings hled a four-tubed Missile Launcher, filled with a compliment of Baridium Missiles.

"Sir, seems to be a few ships of unknown origin. Orders?"

This was Jacobs, Lathrel's 2IC. Lathrel shook his head.

"No blasting just yet. Slow down to half-impulse. I'll hail."

Flipping a few switches, Jacobs cleared his throat.

"Unknown vessels, this is Commander Janson Lathrel, 74th Scythes. You are currently in Outer Heaven Territory, and are clustering. Now, as you may understand, this has peaked our curiosity. Please state your intentions. Oh, and please don't make any moves to leave unless permitted to, or otherwise we'll take this as malicious intent, and disable or destroy your ship. The sooner you answer gentlemen, the sooner we can get this sorted. And one last thing before you respond, if our beacons go silent, reinforcements will jump in-system."

Janson clicked the comm., indicating he was finished. The ships continued to close towards the ships. Their weapons were powered, and each ship was targetted. Obviously these guys meant business...

OOC: Over to you lot.

"All right Alpha Wing, form up, lets check this out."

Smiling as three clicks came over the comm., Janson Lathrel pulled his Viper Assault Fighter into a lead position. Behind him, three more of the Fighters came up behind him, forming a diamond shape.

These ships were heavily armed, and fast, but lacking shields. The hull itself was Quantanium, which absorbed energy easily, but even so, it could take only so much abuse. Two Pulse Cannons were visable on the underbelly of the ship, directly beneath the cockpits. The wings hled a four-tubed Missile Launcher, filled with a compliment of Baridium Missiles.

"Sir, seems to be a few ships of unknown origin. Orders?"

This was Jacobs, Lathrel's 2IC. Lathrel shook his head.

"No blasting just yet. Slow down to half-impulse. I'll hail."

Flipping a few switches, Jacobs cleared his throat.

"Unknown vessels, this is Commander Janson Lathrel, 74th Scythes. You are currently in Outer Heaven Territory, and are clustering. Now, as you may understand, this has peaked our curiosity. Please state your intentions. Oh, and please don't make any moves to leave unless permitted to, or otherwise we'll take this as malicious intent, and disable or destroy your ship. The sooner you answer gentlemen, the sooner we can get this sorted. And one last thing before you respond, if our beacons go silent, reinforcements will jump in-system."

Janson clicked the comm., indicating he was finished. The ships continued to close towards the ships. Their weapons were powered, and each ship was targetted. Obviously these guys meant business...

OOC: Over to you lot.

Velmer was startled by the presence of other military-grade ships. He powered weapons and shields in case of open hostility by the newcomers, and transmitted a comm back to the fighters.

"Commander Lathrel, this is Captain Nathan Velmer of the Federation frigate Nova. We recieved a distress call passing through the system in pursuit of pirates and came to this location. This unfortunate fellow in the...unidentified ship...has apparently been stranded. We have offered our aid to rescue him, but other vessels have showed up. We are trying to help this man out, nothing more."

After clicking off the comm, Velmer called to his flight officer.

"Nelly, get the fighter squadrons ready, and contact the Otari and Keila. If these guys want to mess around then we'll be ready."

“This ain’t good, Outer Heaven IDs.” said Mav looking back towards Flux in the ETO chair, “Get set up to purge our system files, we can’t let them see the data we’ve been collecting.”

“Right,” said Flux, tapping away at his keyboard, “Just say the word and I’ll rip the dam drives out.”

“Humm, this is going to get messy,” mumbled Mav turning back towards the cockpit and flicking a switch on the comms panel, “Red Leader, Red Two, form up on me, we’ve got company. Do not engage unless ordered too. Over.”

“Got that. Out.” replied Red Leader.

“Got that. Out.” Replied Red Two, flipping his fighter in a 180 and kicking in the afterburner back to the Raptor ‘shuttle’.

Mav switched the comms panel over to the open circuit, “Hello Captain Velmer, this is Raptor x-232, any help you can give us is appreciated, we’re unable to resolve the situation on our own anyway.” Mav then took a deep breath, “Hello Commander Lathrel, this is Raptor x-232, We’re also reacting to the distress call. We had no intent to encroach on your sovereign territory.”

“Want me to send an update to the Duke?” asked Flux, “You know, get the cavalry in and not be 3 stunt fighters stuck in the middle of this mess? They might be the cavalry to our homesteads…”

“Can you do it without alerting the other ships?” asked Mav, “Its not going to look good calling a carrier in… people will ask questions…”

“I can encrypt it, it’ll slow them down, theres a big ship out there though, better computers… they might take it the wrong way when they cut through the encrypt.” Said Flux, worriedly.

“No your right, we’re screwed sat here on our own, and running is going to make those Outer Heaven chaps chase I bet… call the cavalry.”

“This ain’t good, Outer Heaven IDs.” said Mav looking back towards Flux in the ETO chair, “Get set up to purge our system files, we can’t let them see the data we’ve been collecting.”

“Right,” said Flux, tapping away at his keyboard, “Just say the word and I’ll rip the dam drives out.”

“Humm, this is going to get messy,” mumbled Mav turning back towards the cockpit and flicking a switch on the comms panel, “Red Leader, Red Two, form up on me, we’ve got company. Do not engage unless ordered too. Over.”

“Got that. Out.” replied Red Leader.

“Got that. Out.” Replied Red Two, flipping his fighter in a 180 and kicking in the afterburner back to the Raptor ‘shuttle’.

Mav switched the comms panel over to the open circuit, “Hello Captain Velmer, this is Raptor x-232, any help you can give us is appreciated, we’re unable to resolve the situation on our own anyway.” Mav then took a deep breath, “Hello Commander Lathrel, this is Raptor x-232, We’re also reacting to the distress call. We had no intent to encroach on your sovereign territory.”

“Want me to send an update to the Duke?” asked Flux, “You know, get the cavalry in and not be 3 stunt fighters stuck in the middle of this mess? They might be the cavalry to our homesteads…”

“Can you do it without alerting the other ships?” asked Mav, “Its not going to look good calling a carrier in… people will ask questions…”

“I can encrypt it, it’ll slow them down, theres a big ship out there though, better computers… they might take it the wrong way when they cut through the encrypt.” Said Flux, worriedly.

“No your right, we’re screwed sat here on our own, and running is going to make those Outer Heaven chaps chase I bet… call the cavalry.”

Velmer looked at the situation after the circuit from Raptor, and quickly deduced that the situation was deteriorating. He sent a closed channel to Raptor.

"Closed comm, Raptor...this is Velmer, if you have reinforcements bring them to within distance where they can microjump in-system if needed, but out of the sensor range of these guys. I've already sent word to a nearby battlefleet, requesting aid if the situation gets worse."

Lathrel nodded.

"All right lads, split up, and lets scan these vessels."

The formation immediately began to split, and head towards the Raptor and the Nova. Lathrel hit the open-channel comm.

"Roger that Captain Velmer. We understand your intentions, and allow you to help. Raptor and Nova, we're splitting up to scan your ships. This is merely procedure. Don't send out any in-system transmissions during this, or we'll take it as malicious intent also."

Lathrel banked toward the Nova.

"Just to let you lot know, you're three light-years inside our borders. If you check your local star-charts, you'll find the Tau Sigma system nearby, if you count 100 light-years as nearby."

Lathrel paused, and activated his scanning equipment.

"This is the heart of our territory. We're about to initiate the scan. This may cause some slight power fluctuations, but nothing to worry about. After we've checked that your cargos and sensor recordings are clean, we'll allow you to continue your search, under our supervision. Thanks for co-operating, Lathrel out."

Lathrel sighed, and immediately switched to the Squadron frequency.

"Alpha's three and four, take the Raptor. Jacobs, you're with me. Good luck. If these guys try and pull anything, you know the drill. Looking at the computer now...if our beacons go offline, it'll take about four to five minutes for any reinforcements to get tasked and jump in. Again, good luck. Lathrel out."

Clicks came over the comm. and Lathrel pulled up, taking him above the Nova. Flicking a few switches, an unseen scan beam projector activated, and a green beam shot out, and stopped, angled in front of the Nova. As the beam began to run over the ship, a few lights flickered, and the beam widened to encompass escorts. As Jacobs came in to do a second sweep, Lathrel turned his head, and watched as Alphas three and four began their sweep of the Raptor.

Computer beeping, Lathrel looked down, and looked at the readings...

OOC: Tag all. If any illegal files are detected (Ie. Saved, specific sensor data), they will be pulled from the database. As for cargo, if anything drug or weapon wise is detected, the Alpha's will request you jettison it. If the cargo is rare, there'll be a rare cargo tax. The Alpha's will also automatically send out a request signal if they detect contraband, and most likely a Corvette will jump in system. Enjoy :)

IC from aboard the NSAA deep-space patrol sloop geronimo:
"bridge, detection systems, multiple new contacts, several bearings around 130.25 high."
the captain hit the send button on his intercom system and said "how far away?"
"not sure, sir, computer picked them out on visual analysis, running diagnostics on passive sensors now"
"carry on. ops, get ready in case we need to go active quickly"
"ops aye"
"detection aye"

shortly later:
"bridge, detection, passive sensors are inoperative, dont know why, visual analysis cannot provide detail on contacts."
"detection, how soon can you get them back online?"
"no time soon sir"
"damnit. you're relieved of duty. detection deputy, take over and get engineering on that fault"
(in an unhappy voice) "detection aye"
"all stations secure from silent running and bring sheilds and defensive weapons up. do not arm weapons"
"engineering aye, reactors firing"
"detection aye, active sensors on, scanning..."
"ops aye. all hands all hands secure from silent running"
"defense aye, sheilds powering up"
"weapons aye, activating targeting systems, weapons NOT armed"
"bridge, engineering, reactors online, coming up to full output"
(ops) "all systems coming up to full operational efficiency"
(defence) "sheilds at full power, AMS online, all defence systems active"
"bridge, detection, details on targets piping through to your screens"

All ships suddenly detect the NSAA sloop as its power signature blooms into glorious life. it is at 500.000 Km from the outer heaven ships, away from all other craft.

"Got that Velmer, we'll take that under advisement" replied Mav eyeing the Outer Heaven ships.

"The ships... its scanning the computer!" yelled Flux.
"Pull the drives!" said Mav looking around,
"Too late!" replied Flux

"Christ," said Mav, "Red flight, form up tight, we're bugging out to 23,42,39. out."

Mav brought the Raptor into a fast spin, away from the outer heaven ships, making a dash for open space.

"Flux, broadcast in the open. Message states: Mayday Mayday Mayday, This is Raptor x-232, to HMS Duke of York, we've been pinged by Outer Heaven craft... are 4 minutes from jump point. Request assist."

Lathrel cursed.

"Alpha 3, stop that scan, and reinforce us! Four, stay with the Nova, continue scanning! Jacobs, 3, follow me in."

Lathrel looked at the data.

"These guys have been pulling sensor data out! Alright guys, this isn't too bad. Charge weapons to maximum, I'm gonna give 'em a warning. If they don't stop, I'll give the word, and we blow their engines to shreads."

Two clicks came over the comm., and Lathrel hit his Impulse to full, bringing him down on the Raptor. Behind him, Jacobs and 3 Formed up.

"Raptor! This is Commander Lathrel. You have not been permitted to move! Kill your drives immediately, or we will take this as malicious intent and open fire! Raptor, you have not broken any laws! The data is sensitive, but the sweeps are designed to get rid of the data! I repeat, kill your drives now, or we will be forced to open fire!"

Lathrel's thumb hovered over the trigger. Hitting a few buttons, the Raptor's engines were targetted. Flipping a few switches, eight boxes twirled across the screen, and all joined into one in the middle of the engines. A loud ringing filled the cockpit, indicating a lock.

"Raptor! We're serious. Don't do this. Kill your drives, this is your LAST warning!"

"bridge, detection, several contacts have powered weapons and arechasing another group"
"bridge aye. weapons online"
"weapons aye"
"pilot, bring us in to medium weapons range"
"pilot aye"
"do not lock targets, but plot firing solutions. ops, hands to battle stations"
"ops aye, all hands, battle stations, battle stations."
"comms, power up the warp-sender and send a coded sitrep and our latest report to scout command. request they send a frigate out."
"comms aye"

The geronimo moved rapidly forward into easy engagement range, while the transmission was being sent.

Velmer watched the situation unfold before him as the Outer Heaven fighters approached the Raptor menacingly. He called back to fighter control.

"Nelly, prep the fighters for launch. Call over to Keila and Otari to do the same, load torpedoes into the bays and charge weapons. This is gonna get hairy in a sec. Tarful, are those cruisers on the way?"
"They won't be in jump range for another fifteen minutes, sir."
"Alright, we may be making this one on our own..."

"bridge, detection, the stationary group of contacts just armed weapons."
"bridge aye. when can we expect a reply from command, comms?"
"another 5 minutes sir."
"damnit, i dont want to have to miss that message, but we might have to move. start constant sitreps to command. if we make it through this, we're going home for a full check over an resupply, we've already had too many equipment failures this tour."
"comms aye"

...

"Bridge, Engineering, the reactor has developed a fault, we've got to drop to 80% output while we fix it. repairs should take about 30 minutes. i'll call you the minute we get them back up. meanwhile we'll keep all combat systems at full power with the batteries, but we cant manage life support at viable levels if we want to have drive power"
"Damnit, this ship must be cursed or something. very well engineering,cut all power to life support. ops, all hands to suit up, and then we'll depressurize."

OOc: that'll save lives if the thing gets hit, but my crews dont know that... damn, i need better training for my scouts...

A transmission reached the Nova:

[Nova, this is Ensign Valadin, Alpha Four on your sensors. Please stay calm. The Raptor is appearing to escape, and considering something we've detected, we can only assume the worst. I assure you, we will not fire on the Raptor without provocation, however, if they don't stop, then we will take it as malicious intent. In the meantime, I suggest you stay still too, while I finish my scan, so far so good. Alpha Four out.]

Above the Nova, a green beam sweeped across the ship and it's escorts, coming from Alpha Four. In the cockpit, Valadin sighed as he clicked the comm. off, and watched the chase unfold. He was a rookie, straight out the academy, but he was good friends already with his 'Squaddies'. They looked out for him like a little brother. And to think he'd never done line duty before...

"C'mon sir...you can get 'em..."

"Captain, message recieved from scout command"
"what do they say?"
"message reads: Advise are diverting Frigate Valiant to your location. do not attack your contacts without reason. use own judgement. message ends"
"oh thats so much help, the valiant is too far away to get here in time to help, and as for my discretion..."the captain muttered to himself. "Right, fine, comms, hail the pursuing craft. message to contain the following: what you are doing is an open act of piracy. cease your pursuit at once, and de-activate your weapons, or we will be forced to defend the ship you are attacking."
"comms aye"
"pilot, bring us about to an intercept course with the fleeing craft"
"pilot aye"

"Captain, more contacts, bearing 245!"
"Roger Vilno, bear turrets towards the new contact. I know the fighter said everything was alright, but if shooting starts, prepare to return fire."

Velmer sat in his captian's chair, staring out the front viewscreen. Battle made him happy.

OOC: has anyone's ship grabbed a target lock on my sloop?

OOC: has anyone's ship grabbed a target lock on my sloop?

OOC: I don't think so, my ships just picked you up on sensors.

OOC: Nada here, my ships are focused on the Raptor.

Mav winced at the bleeping sound in the cockpit, indicating a lock…

“Flux, are the drives wiped…?”
“Yeah, all the datas gone, we’ve destroyed the drive too.” Replied Flux, who tugged on a cluster of wires.

Mav, flicked the switch on the comm.-board, “Lathrel this is Raptor x-232… we’re standing down. Disengage. May I remind you of the distress call Lathrel…” said Mav, trying desperately to buy time…

“Christ, we can’t even run… you know what happen to the surveillance operation on the Otter… never saw the pilots again…” said Flux.

“Quiet, I know… where the hell is the Duke…”

OOC: Same here, got a little distracted.

Lathrel smiled.

"Thank you Raptor. May I also remind you that you're infringing on our borders? Call in your people if you want, but I just hope they'll be willing to help us search for the disabled ship, rather than try and smuggle you out. You aren't free to go just yet..."

With that, Lathrel banked up, and overshot the Raptor. Twisting, Lathrel brought his Fighter to a halt, right in front of the Raptor. The lock was still held.

"Now, tell me, why were you gathering specific sensor data? Seeing as you're new here, you're off the hook in our eyes, but you can still mess up by resisting. Just be honest, and you'll be free to leave, granted you don't want to help search for the disabled ship, which would deepen our suspicions."

Behind the Raptor, Alpha's Two and Three stopped, about 2/3rds a Kilometer away from the Engines. The locks didn't disengage.

"Bear in mind, Raptor, that you disobeyed our orders before. We're just hoping you won't try and move again, or that will make you look malicious. Now please, talk."

Mav rummaged around in the seat pocket, pulling out a data card, muttering to himself he ran his finger down the index... "Right... action on capture... page 14..." He hit a button on the datacard... "It says here flux, errr it says destroy data record devices... thats it..."

"I'll tell you now Mav, we don't get issued suicide pills and I'm not shooting myself... I want a open casket at my funeral." said Flux.

"Look, they've got nothing here which can board us... and theres that small bloody fleet out there and a distress call... thats going to be their priority to sort out... we just have to wait it out for the Duke... if they're still coming." replied Mav... staring at the data card.

"I bet they ain't... I bet theres no markings on this raptor even... 'Oh no' says the Admiral... 'We never had any pilots in that system' says the Admiral... we die alone in a rat infested dungeon somewhere. Thats how its going to go down."

Mav flicked the comm switch on, "Lathrel, we are from the Astro-mapping division of the University of Brent... we were taking part in a survey in this area, looking for a... black hole. We had no idea this was Outer Heaven Space. The reason we ran was because we were afraid that you were space rats... pirates even."

"You know... I think I remember the tail fin having the squadron markings on it still... its not one of the things you look at though when your strapping in though... I just can't remember." said Flux.

"I'd star naming your pet rat if I were you Flux."

Lathrel laughed, and hit the comm.

"Nice try ladies, but we broadcasted who we were the moment we saw you lot, and made that very clear."

As if things couldn't get worse, the Missile Launchers' flaps flipped up or down, revealing the missiles. Had this not been a serious situation, the pilots of the Raptor may have found the fact that the Missiles were grinning funny.

"Now, this is your last chance. Tell us who you really are, and why you're out here. If I'm not convinced, you'll see a full salvo of my Missiles come towards you briefly, and then you won't see anything. Or do anything, again. Start talking, because we don't appreciate spies. And our scans suggest that your ship isn't made just for mapping..."

Lathrel flipped the comm. off, and waited for the response.

"Silly buggers...the game is up."

Lathrel keyed the Squadron Channel.

"Two, Three, on my mark, destroy their Engines. Then cease fire. I want their rears in shreads, but the rest of the ship intact. I want them to understand we mean business. That's...a two Missile salvo each. Understood?"

Two clicks came over the secure frequency.

"Excellent. Well, until I give you my mark..."

Lathrel turned off the comm., and once again began to wait for their response...

OOC: my ships comms were out, so i didnt hear a thing, you might want to explain who you are, or my ship will still think you're pirates and attack...

IC:
"bridge, detection, fleeing craft have halted. pursuers have not fired, but their weapons are still armed"
"damnit, do these people never learn? ops, can we get a visual yet?"
"aye captain, the computer just found them, bringing it up on-screen"
"Good work ops. Weapons, stand ready to engage the pursuers on my command, comms, send the following: Unidentified craft. you have been warned, we will not ask again. de-activate your weapons systems and stand down or we will open fire."
"comms aye"

OOC: Erm, No_State, your posts are very vague. Who are you contacting?

“Missiles?” asked Flux, starring out the cockpit window.
“Looks like it… When should have the Duke turned up?”
“3 minutes ago… they could have had drive troubles though…”
“Either way…”
“Aye…”

Mav hit the internal comm., “Red Leader, thoughts on the situation?”
“We’re locked down here, if we engaged, we’d be vaped before we could do a 180.” came a cracking voice over the communications system, “The drives have been destroyed, if we admit we’re on a Recce we should be ok… carry on with this dicking around and they’re going to blast us. Worst case… jail until we get exchanged.”

“Well I’m out of cunning lies.” Said Mav, looking towards Flux.
“Jamie.”
“What?”
“That’s what I’m naming my rat.”
“Ahhh… I’m going with Brand…”
“Why name it after Captain Brand?”
“Cause I’m going to strangle it to death… That’ll teach him to leave us behind.”

Mav flicked over to the open comm.. “Lathrel, This is Raptor x232, we were participating in a Recce of this system. It was unknown to us that this was in fact patrolled by Outer Heaven combat vessels. We are standing by for boarding operations.”

“Well that’s my career over.” Muttered Mav.
“Over, it never started dude.” Replied Flux.

Lathrel grinned.

"Alphas 2 and 3, we've done it again. Dis-engage Missiles, but keep your Pulsers targetted. I'm going to call in the Cavalry."

Two clicks came over the Secure comm., and Lathrel smiled. He keyed in the open comm.

"Roger that Raptor, and thanks for coming clean. Please lower your shields. We're going to disable your engines using Ion Pulses, meaning almost no damage to your ship. Whatever power overload safeties will activate though, which should mean that your engines won't work for a while. I'm calling in a Boarding ship now. You are now under arrest. Under BETAC, you have certain rights, that we will dicatate to you. Due to your apparent ignorance, you will be treated well. You will be interrogated somewhat, but the more truthful you are, the quicker we can sort this mess out. Lathrel out."

Lathrel immediately switched to the Outer Heaven Command Network.

"Calling all nearby ships, this is Commander Janson Lathrel of Alpha Wing, 74th Scythes. I currently have a Code 65 Situation, and I require a ship capable of Docking and taking two Prisoners. They are Low Level, and are to be treated well. Ship is required at these co-ordinates: 1152#665#39567#09081."

_________________________________________________________________

- Outpost Omega, Transifar System -

Captain Benton sat in his Command Chair, on the Cobra Gunship Chunthor. He was bored. Very bored. The Transifar System was almost dead inbetween the Border and Tau Sigma, the 'Dead Zone', where pretty much nothing happened. A Comm. Officer bolted upright.

"Sir! Incoming communication! Patching through!"

Benton sat up straight, as the Computer's voice came on.

[Transmission re-direct from Listening Post Theta, transcript as follows:


Calling all nearby ships, this is Commander Janson Lathrel of Alpha Wing, 74th Scythes. I currently have a Code 65 Situation, and I require a ship capable of Docking and taking two Prisoners. They are Low Level, and are to be treated well. Ship is required at these co-ordinates: 1152#665#39567#09081.

Transcript ends. Chunthor is assigned to this duty.]

Benton grinned.

"Tactical, plot course! Comms., transmit this message to Commander Lathrel!"

_________________________________________________________________

Lathrel looked at his computer, which was flashing. Running a decryption program, a deep voice filled the cockpit.

[Commander Lathrel, this is Captain Benton, Cobra Gunship Chunthor. We are currently en-route to your destination. We will arrive in under four minutes. Benton out.]

Lathrel grinned, and keyed the Squadron frequency.

"Lads, we have the Chunthor inbound. Lets disable this ship."

Lathrel flipped to the open channel.

"Raptor, if you haven't dropped your shields, do so now, unless you want your shields fried as well. We have a Gunship inbound as we speak. I suggest you shut down all non-essential systems, and stay in your cabin. We don't want a scene, so stay calm, and follow orders. Outer Heaven is understanding of your situation, trust me. Lathrel out."

Lathrel looked up, and smiled as Alphas Two and Three's Pulse Cannons lit up. Blue Pulses lashed out, hitting the ship. If the shields were up, they only would have survived a few seconds. As the Pulses made contact with the Engines, blue crackles of electricity could be seen, and in moments, lots of sparks shot across the Engines, before shutting down.

"It's done sir." Alpha Three's voice said over the Squadron Frequency. Janson nodded.

"Raptor, while we're waiting, perhaps you'd like to tell me which Nation you come from?"

OOC: Tag

Lathrel grinned.

"Alphas 2 and 3, we've done it again. Dis-engage Missiles, but keep your Pulsers targetted. I'm going to call in the Cavalry."

Two clicks came over the Secure comm., and Lathrel smiled. He keyed in the open comm.

"Roger that Raptor, and thanks for coming clean. Please lower your shields. We're going to disable your engines using Ion Pulses, meaning almost no damage to your ship. Whatever power overload safeties will activate though, which should mean that your engines won't work for a while. I'm calling in a Boarding ship now. You are now under arrest. Under BETAC, you have certain rights, that we will dicatate to you. Due to your apparent ignorance, you will be treated well. You will be interrogated somewhat, but the more truthful you are, the quicker we can sort this mess out. Lathrel out."

Lathrel immediately switched to the Outer Heaven Command Network.

"Calling all nearby ships, this is Commander Janson Lathrel of Alpha Wing, 74th Scythes. I currently have a Code 65 Situation, and I require a ship capable of Docking and taking two Prisoners. They are Low Level, and are to be treated well. Ship is required at these co-ordinates: 1152#665#39567#09081."

_________________________________________________________________

- Outpost Omega, Transifar System -

Captain Benton sat in his Command Chair, on the Cobra Gunship Chunthor. He was bored. Very bored. The Transifar System was almost dead inbetween the Border and Tau Sigma, the 'Dead Zone', where pretty much nothing happened. A Comm. Officer bolted upright.

"Sir! Incoming communication! Patching through!"

Benton sat up straight, as the Computer's voice came on.

[Transmission re-direct from Listening Post Theta, transcript as follows:


Calling all nearby ships, this is Commander Janson Lathrel of Alpha Wing, 74th Scythes. I currently have a Code 65 Situation, and I require a ship capable of Docking and taking two Prisoners. They are Low Level, and are to be treated well. Ship is required at these co-ordinates: 1152#665#39567#09081.

Transcript ends. Chunthor is assigned to this duty.]

Benton grinned.

"Tactical, plot course! Comms., transmit this message to Commander Lathrel!"

_________________________________________________________________

Lathrel looked at his computer, which was flashing. Running a decryption program, a deep voice filled the cockpit.

[Commander Lathrel, this is Captain Benton, Cobra Gunship Chunthor. We are currently en-route to your destination. We will arrive in under four minutes. Benton out.]

Lathrel grinned, and keyed the Squadron frequency.

"Lads, we have the Chunthor inbound. Lets disable this ship."

Lathrel flipped to the open channel.

"Raptor, if you haven't dropped your shields, do so now, unless you want your shields fried as well. We have a Gunship inbound as we speak. I suggest you shut down all non-essential systems, and stay in your cabin. We don't want a scene, so stay calm, and follow orders. Outer Heaven is understanding of your situation, trust me. Lathrel out."

Lathrel looked up, and smiled as Alphas Two and Three's Pulse Cannons lit up. Blue Pulses lashed out, hitting the ship. If the shields were up, they only would have survived a few seconds. As the Pulses made contact with the Engines, blue crackles of electricity could be seen, and in moments, lots of sparks shot across the Engines, before shutting down.

"It's done sir." Alpha Three's voice said over the Squadron Frequency. Janson nodded.

"Raptor, while we're waiting, perhaps you'd like to tell me which Nation you come from?"

OOC: Tag

OOC: The unidentified ship is the NSAA craft

IC:
Velmer had begun to understand the situation developing between the Raptor and the Outer Heaven fighters, but had locked weapons now on the questionable ship coming in on them.

"Nelly, keep an eye on those others, and send the corvettes on a path to cut off the bogey ship. I'm going to patch through to see if I can contact him."

Velmer sent through a transmission to the unidentified ship.

"Unidentified vessel, this is the war frigate Nova, please state your business, we have a target lock and are priming weapons, anything unusual and we will fire."

"Lathrel, Lieutenant Martin, Service Number 23204567, Wintrees Colonial Navy." Said Mav over the comm, "We've got 2 escort fighters in attendance, as you can probably see... I'd be grateful if you'd release them, oxygen reserves what they are, its doubtful the pilots will last before they can be picked up."

Lathrel shook his head.

"Negative Lieutenant Martin, we can't have any of you three leave. I'm sure your pilots have..."

Lathrel looked down at the computer.

"Two minutes of air left. The Gunship is big enough to take the Fighters in. And you say you're from Wintrees? Well, this is interesting. We'll be sure to contact your Government soon."

"Well thanks anyway Lathrel..." replied Mav

The comm clicked on, "Well thanks anyway Mav... Red Leadout."

"What happens now Mav?" asked Flux

"No idea Flux, nothing we can do now anyway until their prison ship turns up."

About a minute later, a shimmering blue Portal opened up about a Kilometer behind the Raptor. After a few moments, the Cobra Gunship Chunthor shot out of the Portal, hull gleaming (But the round bit is actually the hangar rather than an Escape Pod):

http://www.phoxim.de/michael_heitz_republic_cruiser/michael_heitz_republic_cruiser04.jpg

At 600 Meters in length, this ship was surprisingly well armed. Aside from the Heavy Beam Cannon on the middle front of the ship, it was arrayed with Twenty Flak Cannons, Ten Turbolasers and two hidden Missile Launchers (Which popped out of either side of the ship). However, the ship was surprisingly fast, and moved as quick as the Fighters had while cruising. After breaking quickly, the Cobra Gunship loomed over the Raptor. Two green Tractor Beams shot out and grabbed the two Fighters. Quickly, the Fighters were pulled upward, and the Hangar Doors rolled open to accept them. Once the Fighters were in, the Gunship manueuvered itself over a docking port, and carefully, docked with the Raptor.

_________________________________________________________________

- Onboard the Raptor -

The Docking Port doors blew open suddenly, filling the ship with smoke and a loud bang. A few moments later, three Marines ran into the Raptor, and scanned the area with their weaponry.

"Alright! Come out with your hands up! If you try anything, you'll be stunned!"

Marines looked alot like Stormtroopers, only their armour was coloured red, and their helmets were merely red domes with a viewing shield over the face. Or so it seemed...

(OOC: i was talking to your ships Outer Heaven...
"Bridge, detection, we've got something a bit bigger dropping in"
"any idea what it is?"
"nope, another un-recognised craft"
"Captain, the stationary (OOC: AB's) craft have got a lock on us"
"damn, i was hoping they'd keep out of it. get a lock on them, but dont fire first"
"weapons aye"
"bridge, detection, the new contact has started boarding ops on the fleeing craft"
"weapons, active locks on all craft, open fire on the new contact and the chasing ships. 1 missile each"
"weapons aye, firing"

A cluster of four missiles streaked away from the sloop, accelerating at 80 gravities for a few seconds, then their boosters split up and flew past the warheads to provide built-in chaff.
OOC: off to eat, cant post more. sorry...

"Captain missiles launched from the unidentified craft!"
"Alright, battle positions, launch the fighters! Prime missile stations."

Velmer watched the missiles streak past his squadron towards the Outer Heaven craft. What the hell had he gotten into?

"Lieutenant Keyes, order torpedo stations five and six to shoot a missile each at the craft."

Two streaking blue missiles fired out of missile chambers from the Nova, headed towards the NSAA ship. Boiling out of the three-ship formation, twenty-four starfighters streaked into formations. Velmer hailed the aggressor craft.

"Unidentified vessel, stand down weapons or my ships will continue firing."

OOC: oops, wasnt really intending to get into a fight with everyone... :( ah well...

OOC2: oops, just noticed your message, damn jolt, er, methinks as the ship's other systems are all poor, they can just have not heard it...

IC:
"Incoming from the stationary group, and they've launched fighters."
"countermeasures"
"weapons aye, countermeasures away"
"captain, incoming message from stationary group."
"on speakers"

*****message*****

"comms, reply that we will not tolerate pirate actions, and our requests for an explanation from the apparent pirate craft were ignored."

several different countermeasure systems on the NSAA craft were released towards the incoming missile.
first, a set of three much smaller missiles were launched one after the other to intercept each at a long distance from the craft (to clarify, thats 6 total, three at each), then rapid- fire cannon put a copious quantity of flak into the missiles' paths, then, if either missile survives, the same rapid-fire cannon shoot it down.
(ooc: just to warn you, my FT sloops are serious warships, Frigates are big ships such as those in command of operations for an area of about 100 star systems. but dont be too woried, all NSAA FT warships are at this point horribly unreliable, spot whats gone wrong with this one already, and it's one of the best)

"CAPTAIN, WE HAVE INCOMING MISSILES!"

Captain Benton swore profusely.

"Flak Cannons, fire!!!"

_________________________________________________________________

"What the...?"

Lathrel watched the Missiles streak closer. He cursed.

"Fuckfuckfuck! All Fighters, scatter!"

Twisting the yoke and literally smashing the throttle, Lathrel's Fighter shot under the Raptor, and in the nick of time too. As 2 and 3 escaped, the area suddenly became a cloud of Flak. As the Missiles loomed closer, another set joined in, and collided. Then, some other fire took out most the others. The last was caught in the Flak burst.

[LATHREL!?!]

Lathrel cursed, and hit the secure frequency.

"I'm on it sir!"

Flipping to the open channel, Lathrel brought his Fighter back to where it was.

"Nova! What the f**k just happened out there? Did you fire those Missiles!?!"

OOC: What is going on with Jolt...

IC:
Both corvettes banked off from the Nova to come in on the sloop from different vectors. The fighters swung off from the frigate, alligning a wall between the three ships.

"Incoming transmission, Captain."
"Patch it through, Nelly."

The transmission contained garbled noise and static, the computer brains unable to sort out the message.

"Just garbling, Captain. Could be jamming systems."
"Activate our own jammers and energize the shields. Prepare point-defense lasers for incoming missiles."

OOC: Amazonian, my guys sent a Transmission to you.

OOC: Amazonian, my guys sent a Transmission to you.

OOC: Yeah but we're not attacking you and figured that the NSAA ships have already heard it...

OOC: Right, so you're keeping comm silence? If you are, that'll prompt more comming, and if you still stay silent, Lathrel will go and check out what you're doing.

OOC: dunno, theres at least one thread on it in technical. must be their forum server, the rest of their stuff isfine afaik, and i use some of it...

IC:
"Bridge, detection, stationary group is now on the move, they're breaking to vector in on us."
"Bridge aye, comms, send final sitrep to command, request they send a task force to hunt down these pirates. or whoever they are..."
"comms aye."
"engineering, bridge, how long before you could jump us out?"
"bridge, engineering, hyperdrive is out until the generator comes back up. and that's not happening today. there's a major fault, i can fix it, but it'll require a generator shutdown"
"oh good. bridge aye, we'll try to get you that shutdown"
"engineering aye"
"bridge, detection, missiles all detonated pre-impact."
"Bridge aye, weapons, larboard battery is to engage the fighters near the boarding craft, starboard battery is to fire a single missile at the other group"
"weapons aye, larboard battery, target pirate fighters and fire at will."
"battery aye"

10 more missiles this time blasting straight for their targets at 60 gravities streaked away from the NSAA ships towards the outer heaven fighter group.

[edit] OOC: and my craft's comms just died completely, although the report uses message capsules dropped through very small tubules, and that system still works. its also completely immune to interception. oh and useless unless being sent to a stationary unit (or one on a known and easily computed course...)

OOC: oops, sorry Outer Heaven, didn't see that post...

"Incoming transmission from the Police ships, sir."
"Patch 'em through."

Originally Posted by Outer Heaven MK II
"Nova! What the f**k just happened out there? Did you fire those Missiles!?!"

"Copy, Nelly, send back a transmission too them."
"Nova here, those missiles were fired by an unidentified sloop, we have engaged."

Alpha Four sighed, flipping through the manual, before a bleep filled the cockpit. Looking up, Valadin didn't have a chance to do anything as the Missile hit his Cockpit dead on.

_________________________________________________________________

"Sir! W-!"

Lathrel screamed in anger.

"They got Valadin!"

Jacobs swore.

"Those moth-"

"Sir! We hav-"

"I KNOW DAMNIT! ALL FIGHTERS, PULL A BETA THREE!"

Hitting the Cruise Engines, The remaining Fighters (Three) grouped up, while simultaniously dropping their stockpile of Flares. The Missiles hit every one, unable to discern the energy signatures from that of the Fighters. The Fighters streaked away. Lathrel growled. He hit the comm.

"Nova. Answer me right now. We lost Four. Who is responsible. And I want an answer NOW!"

Lathrel's voice was quivering with anger.

"The Missiles came from your direction, but we can't detect anything further than your ship. Please, tell us who the hell took our friend."

As the Alpha's shot towards the Nova, their Missile Banks opened, revealing their own Missiles, but no locks were made.

"Please Nova...justice must be dealt for the life lost. Alpha Four was straight out the Academy. HE WAS A F**KING KID!"

The Viper Assault Fighters continued to close, unable to detect the culprit ship.

As Lathrel recieved the message, he detected the ship.

"Thank you Nova...we'll follow you in. The Captain's maintaining silence, as protocol due to Boarding Procedures, so for the moment, we're under your Command, or rather, I'm assigning myself to your operation. I bet you're clean...4 would have told us otherwise, so you're off the hook."

The Alpha's shot over the Nova.

"Well then, orders Nova? The sooner we get these f**kers, the better."

"impact. target 4 destroyed."
"one for 10 missiles? thats not good enough weapons. i'll expect an explanation on my desk at the end of your next off-shift."
"aye aye sir."
"bridge, larboard battery, shall we continue firing?"
"Battery, bridge, what do you think fire at will means?"
"battery aye..."

another ten missiles shot past the frigate towards the fighters

"Again guys, this time, use Chaff."

The Fighters rolled, dumping a few EP Bombs, which scrambled the Alpha's Systems for a few moments, along with the Missiles. They overshot, and continued to fly into space, unclear of their targets.

"Alright lads, as soon as Nova gives us orders, we follow 'em. For Valadin."

"For Valadin!" Jacobs shouted.

"For Valadin..." Nathan's voice was alot sadder, considering he was probably the closest one to Four.

Velmer was enraged that the intruders had killed. He wanted to kill back.

"Open comm, Nelly, to the police fighters."
"Open comm go ahead."
"All fighters, target the sloop's weapon systems, fire!"

Both corvettes dropped their energy turrets into position, flashing green beams of energy at the NSAA sloop. THe Amazonian Retribution fighters spitted energy fire at the ship, closing in range of their rockets. The Nova banked to the left, opening with right turrets on the ship.

"sir, missiles have lost targets."
"send correction to their computers"
"aye aye"

The remaining missiles boosted around in a wide circle back towards the fighters

[edit] sorry, didnt see your post, thanks to jolt probably....

IC more:
the beams struck the NSAA ship's screens and rebounded in a glowing display of sparks for less a second or so, at the end of which, the sloop's automatic evasion systems pulled it out of the way of the beams.

"sir, sheilds are down to 70% efficiency"
"Starboard battery, fire at will"
"battery aye"

10 more missiles shot from the side of the NSAA sloop, broke into two groups, and swept towards the corvettes.

Lathrel hissed.

"Two, Three, follow in, use your Missiles on the Turrets and Missile Launchers. I'm going for the Missiles..."

Pulling an expert loop, Lathrel fired erratically into space. Hitting a few Missiles. Dropping some Chaff, Lathrel banked off, and growled at the Missiles as they went through the Chaff. Relooping, he locked onto the rest, and destroyed them before they can recover.

"Nice firing sir..." That was Three. Lathrel nodded.

"Thanks, coming in with you guys. FIRE!"

Hitting the throttle, Lathrel went toward the NSAA ship, firing off the first Salvo of Missiles, and lots of Pulses at the Turrets, taking out a score in the process. The others were having similar progress.

"Good work lads, and again. Random pattern Theta, remember to weave."

As Lathrel rejoined the Alpha's, they pulled up, and steadily looped around, and began their next run...

"sir, we just lost several turrets to those fighters."
"damnit, weapons, deal with them, pronto"
"weapons aye"

the sloop's remaining turrets opened up on the fighters, filling space around them with clouds of flak, as another 10 missiles shot from the sloop's larboard battery.

The Keila intercepted all of its missiles, but three made it past the defenses of the Otari. The missiles slammed into the starboard shields, bright explosions emitting from the corvette. On board the Nova, Velmer watched the ensuing battle.

"Cap'n, the Otari's shields are down to 40%."
"Alright, keep up the fire and have the Otari bank around behind us. All batteries fire, launch rockets!"

The Otari banked sharply, letting loose its ion batteries on the sloop. At the same time, the fighters launched micro-rocket barrages on the sloop as the Nova and Keila launched torpedoes and fired their pulse guns.

"Shit! Evade!"

All the Alphas peeled off, but not in time. Janson and Jacobs were hit by the Flak, stripping off some of the outer hull. Dropping Chaff, they twirled, to find Nathan yelling. His Fighter had taken too much. A Missile plowed into his Fighter's rear, effectively disabling it.

"Nathan! Eject!" Janson cried.

"No! This is for Valadin you f**ks!"

Twisting his Fighter, Nathan cried out as some Flak smashed his cockpit, shredding his torso. Gurgling, he redirected his dying Fighter, right toward the NSAA ship's Bridge.

"For...Valadin.."

Nathan gurgled one last time. More Flak fire took away the left Wing, but didn't stop the Fighter. It crashed into the Bridge, and a large explosion followed.

"NOOOOOOOO!"

Janson cried out.

"Two! Back out with me damnit!"

Both Fighters twirled, and, dropping Chaff, shot toward the Nova.

"Damnit...they got Nathan sir..."

Janson shook his head.

"It's NSAA, whoever they are. This is only the beginning Jacobs...we have two lives to avenge..."

== Tag NSAA. I have serious doubts your Bridge would survive. Think of the Executor in ROTJ. The Fighter also has alot of Heavy Missiles stocked, meaning your Bridge would have been taken out. Enjoy... ==

Edit: OOC: All you're gonna get from me tonight guys. Later :)

OOC: yeah, my bridge is kinda gone. :( i'd almost say godmodding for getting through my flax barrage though, if it werent for the fact that this ship's crew is so tacky they'd have got him with a counter-missile. anyway

IC: Engineering department of the NSAA sloop Geronimo...

"Boss, evasion systems offline..."
"damni..." CRASH
(all crew around are thrown around as the sloop's artificial gravity systems fluctuate wildly for a few seconds before coming back online.)
"ow, what the hell was that?"
*groan*
"come on, quickly"
"ow, ow, ow. er, i think one of the fighters kamikazed the bridge."
"Sh*t. batteries, this is engineer officer Karath. continue firing."
"Starboard battery, aye"
"Larboard battery, we lost half our tubes, but we're still here, firing."
"THIS IS THE SHIP'S ONBOARD COMPUTER, THE BRIDGE HAS BEEN TAKEN, ACTIVATING SELF-DESTRUCT ROUTINES"
"aw crap. that just aint funny." (the engineer officer looks at the wreckage of the computer over-ride console) "okay, we're dead. Nice knowing you."

15 more missiles streak from the sloop's tubes target-ed on the fighters.

ooc: they might (i'll dice-roll it to decide) jury-rig another over-ride in time, in case they dont, your ships detect a massive power surge from all systems on board the sloop. incidentally, for the remaining time to self-destruct, the sheilds become unbreakably resistive to energy weapons, but if they do manage to bring it under control, the ship will be crippled.

"Shit! That's another one!"

Having seen the fighter slam into the bridge of the sloop, Velmer was getting confident, but was worried that they may have additional forces inbound.

"Transmission to the remaining two fighters, Nelly."
"Yes sir."
"Fighters: If you have any reinforcements, bring them in ASAP. We may need them."

Meanwhile the Keila had got in close with the sloop, using its quick speed and manuevering to evade missiles while pulsing its energy guns into the sloop. Rockets smashed into the Amazonian fighter formations, shredding three fighters as the others launched rockets and banked off.

Martin and Green stood up in the cockpit, placed their side arms on the chairs, interlocked their fingers above their heads and walked towards the Outer Heaven troopers.

"We'll come quietly."

OOC: er, RUN guys...

IC: with a loud RRRRIIIIIPPPP sound (and yes, it's so loud you can hear it through space) the subspace generator of the geronimo detonates, completely vaporising the ship, and anything within 200 meters of it, but not affecting anything outside that radius.

OOC: sorry, rolled a 1, which means they got no warning. the ship that sent out the distress signal is out of the blast radius by the way...

I've got a couple of exams, so i wont have much time to post for the next two days. i'll have my reinforcements turn up tuesday evening...

OOC: Flak fields aren't perfect mate, especially at close range. In Freespace, it took alot of hits to take a Fighter down, and I think made a good enough sacrifice. Thoughts anyone?

IC: The first few Missiles hit the Chaff, sending them off in a multitude of directions, all away from the remaining two Fighters. However, a few got through.

"Shit, I'm clean, Jacobs?"

"Same here sir. F**k!"

"It's alright man, follow me, we'll use the Nova's engines to throw 'em off."

Looking back, he watched as the main explosion subsided, revealing the Bridge, or rather the lack of one.

"Damnit Nathan..."

Hitting impulse to full, Lathrel brought his Fighter up and over the Nova's stern. Following closely behind, Jacobs jinked about, trying to throw off three missiles that were trailing him.

"Alright...stay close..."

Going in low, Lathrel flew a few meters above the Nova's hull, weaving inbetween active batteries. Jacob's followed behind, doing his best. A few more Missiles were taken out, bringing down the total to three. One for Lathrel, two for Jacobs.

"S**T!"

Jacob's left wing was glanced by a firing battery, throwing him off to the right. Rapidly yanking on the controls, Jacobs brought his Fighter up, but not before the Missiles went in...

"JACOBS!!!"

But it was too late. Both Missiles smashed into the Engines of the Fighter, blowing it apart. Had he not been blinded, Lathrel would have spotted Jacob's ejecting. Screaming, Lathrel began to jink erratically, and brought his Fighter downward, barely missing the Nova's aft, towards the inferno that was the Nova's Engines.

"God damnit..."

Rolling, Lathrel rolled past the first Engine, scorching the underside of his Fighter a glowing red. Rolling, he heard a stabiliser go, and looking back, watched as part of his Fighter blew apart, and a circular object went flying into space. Fighter groaning, Janson rolled, the controls shaking heavily. Bringing his Fighter up, he sighed.

"This is gonna cost be big time..."

Rolling past another Engine, Janson began to override the Computer. Running a few loops around the Engine, he shot back towards the first, Missile still trailing.

"Almost...YES!"

Hitting the secondary stud on both yokes, joined into one control, Lathrel watched as his second payload of Missiles were propelled out of the Launchers. However, with their computer's disabled, the Missiles' Thrusters didn't ignite, and jinking, all sixteen Missiles fell behind him. Hitting a switch he rolled, and suddenly space behind him lit up. Turning around in his chair, he yelled in triumph as he saw the final Missile be absorbed by a Baridium fueled explosion. Sensors screaming, Janson turned back to look out the cockpit.

"S**T!!!"

Lathrel pulled up hard, but it didn't prevent the inevitable. His Fighter shot through the outer inferno coming from the Engine, and his Fighter shook violently, alarms screaming. The canopy turrned jet black for a moment, blocking out the blinding inferno, and then went clear as he went through. A few explosions rocked his ship, and turning back, he cursed.

"Crap!"

Hitting the emergency release switch, he watched as all his remaining Missiles were released by the Loading hatches on the underside, but too late. As the last of the Missiles were jettisoned,they detonated, the fusion reactions taking place due to the heat. Face thrown against his Canopy, Lathrel's stomach churned as his Fighter tumbled through space. Integrity gave away, and more parts fell from his Fighter. He hit the comm.

"NOVA! THIS IS LATHREL! I'M COMING IN HOT, BRING DOWN YOUR HANGER BAY SHIELDS!"

Cursing as more explosions rocked the ship, he manueuvered his Fighter as best he could. Eventually it faced the Hangar Bay, and hitting a few keys, the Landing Gear was extended.

Pray Liquidus...save me on this day...

Groaning, he heaved on the Controls, and tried his best to level out before he hit the Hangar Bay floor...

== TAG, this happens just before the NSAA ship explodes. ==

OOC: sorry, wasnt clear enough. if he made it through the flak(which, btw, would be hitting him as solid rounds from the cannon before he got through, then the charge would go, putting the fragments into his armour) the computer should (if its working right...) put a few small AMS missiles into him as an emergency measure. the explosion would hurt the ship, but it would do less damage than the impact. anyway, the ship was stuffed already... now back to revision... :(

Without hesitation, two of the Marines ran towards Martin and Green, the third keeping his Rifle on them. He was holding an Outer Heaven Cascade Rifle, one of the newest models. This model utilised Subpace technology. As the trigger was pulled, a tiny Subspace Vortex would open, and another would open up about 0.001th of a milimeter in front. The sharpened bullets would briefly be propelled into Subspace, and once they left, would be going at velocities exceeding Lightspeed. However, the bullets quickly lost speed, but this didn't matter. At 200m, these bullets could still penetrate tank armour...

Holstering their Rifles in a back holster, the two Marines whipped out a pair of Stun cuffs each, and Martin and Green found themselves handcuffed. As the blue Stun Fields activated, Martin and Green's vision unfocused for a second, and their arms went completely numb, unable to move.

The two Marines went behind Martin and Green, and took their Rifles back out, and took aim.

"Alright, head towards the Docking Port, at a brisk pace. If you run, we'll kneecap you. The moment you're onboard, stop dead still. If you continue to move, you'll be kneecapped. Clear?"

Not waiting, the two Marines pushed Martin and Green forward. Once they were both on the Gunship, the Stun Cuffs were charged to full, and Martin and Green collapsed, completely unconscious...

_________________________________________________________________

About ten minutes later, they awoke to find themselves in a dimly lit room, with a hanging light, and a bolted table. They were sat, hands free, on bolted chairs. There was a chair bolted infront of the Table's otherside. There was no door to be seen, just dull golden walls.

==Over to you Wintrees.==

((...Okay, I take a little break to revise for an exam and suddenly the entire thread becomes a five page war thread. Right...

It seems that I've lost all control over my own thread and that, try as I might, a simple thread about a rescue and potential diplomatic meeting has turned into a huge multi-way battle royale... :confused: ))

Peter, however, had been watching all the flashes and explosions and all the huge battles and even all the communications he was lucky enough to pick up on that were occuring all around his currently inoperative ship and was finding it very, VERY cool. He hadn't seen such sleek fighters, such amazing craft and such heart-stopping action outside of movies and his imagination, but here he was. Here he was, the very reason that this had all happened and he'd been totally forgotten. The generator of the ship nearby tore open and Peter's ship, amazingly, was out of the blast radius and that was a little scary. He wasn't sure if all these people meant peace to him anymore. If anything, he wasn't sure if ANY of them were friendly to him anymore. Still holding a luke-warm beer in his hand, he went back onto the radio and made a general communication.

Uuum... hello? Guys? Why are you all fighting? All I wanted was a little help with my generator and all. I'm a little trapped and I would love to not be in anybodies territory and everything, but right now I'm stuck. So... a little help would be nice... please..? you know, I don't want to die and all, I just want to be on my way...

Peter gave the generator a few good kicks then, but it still wasn't working and now he was worried; the last thing he wanted was to be turned into an explosive firework with the blast radius centered around himself.

The force field protecting the Nova's hanger dropped just in time to allow the skidding, shrieking fighter to careen into the hanger bay. Two teams of emergency personnel were already out to prevent any fires as any other fighters in the hanger bay were launched to prevent accidents.


The shockwave of the exploding sloop slammed into the Keila, which had been very close in the engagement. The shields fell to the intensity of the blast, slewing the corvette to its side and away from where the ship had been. Explosions shot out of the Keila, exposing bulkheads to space and violently blasting off sensor arrays and turrets. The ship limped back to the protection of the Nova and Otari, wounded but not destroyed.

"Ssssssssssssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiittttttttttttttttttt!"

Lathrel's Fighter hit the floor hard, but the Fighter's armour held. Barely. Screeching across the floor at high speeds, Lathrel hit the left booster. The Booster fired, and died, but even so, threw the Fighter over. It rolled a few times, a wing snapped off, and finally, the Fighter hit the wall of the Hangar at 20MPH. It rebounded off the bulkhead, and hit the floor with a clatter, practically upside down. A few moments later, the Canopy opened, and Lathrel fell out of the ship, moaning.

"Ohargh..."

Rolling out from under the ship, he let out a breath.

"Hhehelp?"

OOC: Bump?

OOC: threads have a habit of turning into wars on NS. it happens...
BTW, anyone with really good detection systems will spot a very small probe hyperspacing into the system at this point...

OOC: seeing as how nothing much is happening, merry crimbo, have a small fleet.

IC: around the area the previous very small probe arrived at, any ships with hyperspace detectors will spot a group of clusters of micro-tubules (each with several million tubules in it) blossom into existence. 10 of them are about the size of corvettes, 4 are the size of the sloop you already met, and one is considerably larger.

OOC again: and some ships will come through in a bit. note that they wont attack immediatly, just ask who blew one of our ships up, and why.

er, bump for someone to react in some way?

The emergency crews filled the hanger, pulling Lathrel away from the destroyed fighter. Fortunately it wasn't on fire. The medics had hurried, and quickly loaded Lathrel onto a stretcher. The medical teams took him off to the Medical Bay of the Nova, working against the clock to get him medical treatment.

OOC: I didn't reall understand that, NSAA...

OOC: lots of little 1-atom sized tubules (they being holes in space-time that link two places together...) in a cluster. i use them instead of one big one. there are IC reasons...

OOC: lots of little 1-atom sized tubules (they being holes in space-time that link two places together...) in a cluster. i use them instead of one big one. there are IC reasons...
So, like a hyperspace kinda thing?

yeah, exactly. but much smaller and in much larger numbers...

OOC: seeing as how you havent done aught, my fleet is going to turn up at this point...

IC: out of the tubule clusters there suddenly appear a group of NSAA warships. 4 of them have near-identical signatures to the lost sloop, 1 is considerably bigger, and 10 of them are smaller. (the same sizes as the clusters...)

On the bridge of the large one, the frigate HMS Valiant:
"Sir, hyper-jump complete, we are at the location of the last transmission from the geronimo"
"good. detection, what do you see?"
"er, i see several groups of ships, pretty much in the same alignment as the last transmission from the geronimo placed them. and a group of wreckage looking like the remains of one of our sloops."
"very well. comms, open me a general channel, and try to trigger the beacon on the wreck"
"aye aye"

[message]
All ships, this is commodore watkins of the NSAA naval frigate valiant. we are reading the wreckage of one of our patrol sloops in the area, and see that your weapons are armed. de-activate your weapons and explain what happened to our ship immediatly or we will destroy you.
[message ends]

"comms, get me a private channel to the rest of the fleet."
"aye aye"

[private message] (direct laser transmission, so probably no hacking it...)
All ships, this is the commodore, i suspect that these ships are the same ones that attacked the geronimo, so stay on guard and keep all combat systems at full power. form cone.
[message ends]

OOC: come on people, post...

OOC: Wow, didn't know this thread was still active...

IC:
Velmer was unconcerned about the arrival of the new fleet. His forces, soon to be bolstered by the arrival of the squadron he had sent for, would equal the NSAA fleet in firepower.

"Nelly, send a transmission to the NSAA warship."
"Right away, sir."
"NSAA warship, this is the frigate Nova. Your sloop fired without provocation on an Outer Heaven fighter group and on our starship squadron. Be advised, we have another squadron jumping in-system now. We have full compliments of fighters and are willing to fight this out. It's your choice."

The transmission ended.

"Wearet, get to that Outer Heaven guy and see if you can have him contact his own people to get some ships out here. We'll probaly need 'em."

OOC: i did say i'd bring this lot in at some point, and i dont have any exams for a while, so...

IC:
"sir, recieving message"
[message plays...]
"hmm. they could be right, that ship did have a lot of equipment failures. lets find out. comms, send the following"
[message]
Nova this is the valiant, our last report from the sloop was during the fighting, and her communication log shows that she warned off the fighter group from what appeared to be a pirate attack on another group, and when they refused to break off, was attacked by both the fighter group and your ships. we require that a reason be given for the piratical actions of your outer heaven friends, and also why you chose to support them.
[message ends]
"now lets see what they have to say for themselves. tactical, deploy a sloop and 2 brigs to target the lone ship, and align the rest of us on this "nova"."
"tactical aye"

Sighing, Benton strode onto the Bridge.

Ugh...those Inquisitors give me the creeps...

"Report!"

Sitting down on his chair, his eyes widened. On his display, out of four fighters, there was one, in critical condition, and only two life signs. A field of scorched debris slowly went past the Nova.

"Did I miss something?"

The Tactical Officer nodded.

"Sir, an unknown ship entered our space some time ago, but outside our normal scanner range. We first learnt of their presence when they...murdered Alpha Four. He was hit by a Missile of sorts..."

Benton growled.

"Right..." The Tactical Officer gulped.

"The other Alpha's took on the ship, merely designated NSAA for now. No_State_At_All is what it stands for, and it's our first contact with the Nation. The ship was taken out successfully, but we lost Alpha 3 in the process. Comm. chatter suggests that the other two Alpha's were taken down by Missiles. Alpha 2 is currently floating about a few KM's away, and with your authorisation, we'll go and bring him aboard. Alpha 1 is on the Nova, situation unknown. But, considering what's happened, and what is happening, we can consider the Nova and it's Escorts friendly."

Benton nodded, and then saw another ship jump in.

"Boost scanner range. Keep the Raptor docked, and lets get Alpha 2. Tactical, give me a re-"

The Tactical Officer cleared his throat.

"Already done, the ship appears to be NSAA."

Benton nodded.

"Continue with my orders, comm., send a message to the Nova."

_________________________________________________________________

As the Chunthor began it's approach towards Alpha 2, floating nearby to the Nova, the Nova recieved an encoded message.

[Nova, this is Captain Benton. We have completed our operations, and we are on an apporach vector to pick up Alpha 2. Suggest action against the new NSAA ship? Subspace fluctuations interferring with normal comm. channels, so we cannot pick up the NSAA transmissions as of yet.]

"Sir, we have movement. the ships appear to be joining up."
"oh ho, they are are they. ah well. tactical, get the fleet into full battle order, and orient on the center of their formation. all ships to go to battle stations and bring sheilds to full."
"aye aye. all hands, all hands, battle stations, battle stations"
"also, start deploying decoys."
"aye aye, decoys away."

OOC: those decoys give off virtually no detectable emissions until activated, at which point they'll look just like another NSAA frigate to all but gravitational scanners. naturally, you dont know about them ICly.

"Captain, they're making threatening manuevers."
"Apparently they don't want to negotiate. Are the other ships in-system yet?"
"Aye sir, bearing 145, a Pinnacle-class cruiser, the Malevolent, flanked by two frigates and three corvettes."
"Have them join up with us to prepare for potential action against the NSAA squadron."
"Roger sir."
"Have all fighters re-fueled and re-armed for engagement, and transmit that order to the Otari and Keila as well. Prepare attack shuttles and load 'em up."

The Malevolent and its six-ships squadron, bolstered by the frigates Hyperion and Chimaera and the corvettes Nehai, Toprawa, and Sekihara, joined Velmer's battle formation to stand against possible NSAA incursion.

"Send a transmission to the Outer Heaven craft."
"Patching through, Cap'n."
"Outer Heaven craft, this is the frigate Nova. The NSAA ships are closing in an attack vector. After you pick up your pilots, requesting aid to fend off attacks."

Benton nodded.

"Roger that Nova, we'll assist once we have Alpha 2. This ship is designed for hit and run attacks, so co-ordinate as appropriate, over."

Bernard turned off the mike, allowing the Nova to respond, and he turned to Tactical.

"Alright, get him to Medical. Use standard method."

"Aye sir." The Officer tapped a few commands into his console.

_________________________________________________________________

"Oh shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhiiiiiiiiiiit!!!!!"

Jacobs cried out as a Subspace Portal, shaped like him, opened up inside of him. As his insides disappeared, he felt his consciousness go, and after a few moments, he was fully absorbed. He reappeared in the Medical Bay, and the technicians there began to strip his suit off, and scan him.

"sir, new contacts, mlultiple heavy warships, closing in fast!"
"all stop."
"aye sir, all stop"
"tactical, readout on enemy forces"
"sir, we read one heavy frigate, 5 sloops, and 8 brigs. also the one gunboat which is of significantly different design."
"hmm. send sitrep to command. comms. to all our ships, maintain sheilds but do not arm weapons. lets see if these guys want to start anything."
"aye aye"
"sir, decoys are in position."
"very good"
"sir, shall i target the enemy craft?"
"no, but plot firing solutions and assign targets. I want those brigs taken out with the first barrage if it does come to a fight"
"aye aye"

"Nelly, patch through a comm to the NSAA lead frigate."
"Right away, sir."
"NSAA ship, this is the frigate Nova. Your ship fired without provocation and was destroyed hence. If you wish to fight over it, you shall not walk away from the engagement. We recommend you turn around before more people have to die."

OOC: AB, we've commed you.

"Roger that, Outer Heaven craft, we'll keep you covered to allow you to set up your runs. Our fighters will lead you in to attacks. THe NSAA ships do not seem to be backing down, so fighting appears to be imminent."

Benton nodded.

"Copy that Nova, give us a set of attack vectors, we haven't encountered these guys, you have, over."

"Move in on the bridge, it seems to be the weakest part. Our fighters and shuttles will occupy the guns for you to get off clean shots. We'll pour suppressing fire on the capital ships and NSAA fighters."

"Sir, we have Alpha 2."

Benton nodded.

"Alright Nova, although we can hold our own against the Fighters. Just give us the word and we'll go in."

"We'll let them make the first move. If they decide to have a change in heart and leave, we'll let them."

Benton nodded.

"Good idea Nova. We're pulling into your starboard side. The moment you give the word, we come at 'em from under you. Beware, our Flak bursts are very effective, have the Fighters keep their distance."

As he said this, the Chunthor pulled in closer to the Nova. With a hiss, the Raptor was detached. It was too much of a liability right now. The broken hatch on the Raptor couldn't stop the decompression, and the Raptor quickly lost all it's air.

"Only Space Marines can reboard that now..." Benton muttered, watching the Raptor.

OOC: two things, one, i dont use fighters, as you may have noticed previously from the fact the sloop had none...
also, explosive decompression will wreck all internal systems that may have air inside them, and blow out any non-armoured bulkheads as it goes. so that raptor is a bit broken...

IC:
"sir, incoming message."
[ab's message]
"oh ho. comms, send the following: Our frigate believed that you were carrying out a pirate action, which you have yet to refute to our satisfaction. if you attack, you will be destroyed. we will not begin any hostile action, but we will defend ourselves. end message. tactical, deploy the BL-2s."
"aye aye"

from where they had been attached to the side of the frigate, looking like innocuous additions, two large stub-nosed tubes floated free and oriented on two of the ab frigates. (ooc:you'll find out what a BL-2 is if you attack...)

"sir, BL-2s are away and oriented."
"very good. send to high command all info our sensors can detect on the enemy ships. keep up constant sitreps as the geronimo did. this time we're more closely matched, and we'll show them what it means to attack the NSAA navy."

OOC more: note, no matter what happens here, dont expect any more NSAA ships for a while, my plotline will kick off tomorrow, which will tie up the entire NSAA military for a while. that is, if the network here decides to work properly, it was giving me a "phone line is busy" error on the VPN i have to use earlier, so i cant garuantee my posting ability.

Velmer sat amused. These poor people thought it had been a pirate action...yeah. Right.

"Nelly, patch a comm to the NSAA ship."
"Right away sir."
"NSAA ship, this is the Nova. Your attack sloop intercepted an Outer Heaven policing action in this sector after all actions were being tied up. Your craft was attacking the ship for what appeared to be more so of a pirate action than the Outer Heaven ship was."

"sir, another incoming hail from the nova."
[message]
"hmm. right. police action. comms, send the following: i dont see requesting an explanation for an apparent pirate action, and, on recieving no reply, attacking, as a piratical action myself. and if it was their police action, why were you involved. in other words, the other one's got bells on."
"aye aye sir" (in an amused tone)
"Tactical, all ships are to arm weapons and pick targets. show them we arent kidding around."
"aye aye sir."
"initiate manouvers 21 and 32. all ships"

OOC: you'll see power surges on all the brigs and sloops as they charge their few energy weapons and bring their reactors to full, and you'll also see a massive power surge on the frigate and the two tubes it deployed light up like christmas trees as they draw more power than the frigate's own systems were doing up to now. you'll also see air venting from the ships as they depressurize for combat. The air will cloak the ships from visual sensors for a short period and will slightly muffle all other sensors. (this captain is an expert in off-the-wall tactics...)

hey, wintrees, your fighter pair still around?

bump for anyone else to post so i can smite them...

OOC: Bump

OOC: fine, i'll just act then...

IC:
Out of the cloud of dispersing gas shoot two massive laser beams, each of which is powered to a level well beyond that which even a battleship can mount, and each hits one of the enemy sloops (er, frigate in your words...).
The beams remain on for about half a second, and then stop.
The gas cloud dissapates, and the NSAA fleet becomes visible again, but there are now 20 brigs, 10 sloops, 5 frigates, and one much larger vessel showing on sensors where the small force was...
(ooc: remember those decoys? OOC you can know that fleet aint real, IC, you have to find out somehow...)

OOC: bump...
come on people, i want a chance to try out some of my other funky stuff on you.

OOC: My bad, haven't seen the post anywhere...

IC:

The energy beams hit the lead frigate, smacking into the shield banks as energy collided with energy in a dazzling light array.

"Holy crap, they gotta lotta ships!"
"What're we doing, sir?"
"Open turret banks and start pulling off. Pop some shots at those bastards, and contact the Outer Heaven guys, try to get them to bring in some more ships!!!"

each of the 10 sloops fires 4 missiles at the AB craft (OOC: and yes, i DO only have 5 sloops in the system at the moment... you'll see in a bit), while 8 of the brigs are hit by AB weapons fire, and burst in small puffs of air. (OOC: those were teh decoys (some of them anyway...) so they dont spread wreckage around, they just burst and then disapear...)
The NSAA sloops and frigates then make formation in a wall centred on the larger ship. the frigates then fire a barrage of 50 missiles at the ships with damaged shields.
(ooc: er, methinks that ones gone...)

OOC: That one was already gone...it can go further though

IC:

"What the..."
"That sloop...just disappeared."
"Check those sensor reads again."

OOC: oops... ah well. methinks outer heaven has abandoned the thread. oh well...

OOC: That kinda kills the thread...

OOC: well, you could fight on alone, you're only slightly outnumbered...
and we could say that you were defending his territory for him, and then when he comes back, he can drop in a small battle-fleet, and finish my fleet if you havent...
also, whoever wins can get around to picking up that survivor. (oops, thread hijackage...)

OOC: Forgot all about him...

OOC: of my ships get a minute free they'll run across him, and rescue him, but that would be bad right now, as he'd probably get flattened by a stray shell...

OOC: Apologies, but I'm very ill, so computer time is limited to near nothingness. I WILL be back soon, perhaps weekendish.

OOC: Apologies, but I'm very ill, so computer time is limited to near nothingness. I WILL be back soon, perhaps weekendish.

Ouch, get better soon.

Ditto.

bump in case OH is back...

OOC: Alright, back.

OOC: woo.

OOC: Welcome back OH...

OOC: Right...errr...where were we?

er, I'd just started attacking AB's lone fleet. may i suggest that you call in an approximatly equal force of your own reinforcements and push me back into deep space. (must remember to actually go somewhere with the ChKarg. not that i realy like how that story is turning out. ah well...)

OOC: I asked your guy for support from OH forces...