NationStates Jolt Archive

The small blue and brown orb sat there, quietly from the depths of space, to the end of the system. It was not a peaceful seat either. Clouds of fire were dimly alight, scattered across the surface. Here and there, massive storms wrestled with cities, so large, they were visible from orbit. Dull gray waves of steel and glass, with firey spots wreathing certain areas.

Above, vessels floated, occasionally spattering the planet with bombardments, making smaller blue plumes on the planet below. Farther around the system, more ships either lumbered in, if they were Capital Ships, or like so many fish in a school, scatter and swarm if they were Frigates or Cruisers. Ships, lesser in both size and power, struggled, and failed against the might of the fleet, raging dog fights with fighters, tooth and nail ship to ship battles, or bloody engagements inside ships themselves tore across the area.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"How long?" The man grimly looked down at the planet below. Fighters flew past the view port, giving chase to a few enemies. The planet below was filled with smog now, cities of glass and steel, merely reduced to slag.

The younger man scoffed. Pushing a button, a blue map, wreathed in energy, expanded before the two of them. "We have them on the run. This will teach them to colonize Rhine territory." The former sighed, shaking his head. "We wern't even suppose to engage them Baldor."

The man held back a sneer, almost forgetting who he was talking to. "They asked for it. They wouldn't leave. They fired first. It's how all of them react."

The dark haired man sighed again. "Only because of what happened long before. When we drove out all aliens from the TUF space. The devicers were only to good at kill and destroying aliens who refused to go. And we could have talked to them, asked them to leave us alone. But of course you know the story. It all went down in blood shed."

"And were just protecting our Pact right. To expel all who tread over the border from the outter sector." The older man chuckled. "The only problem is, were not in our territory. Were in contested space. Anyone could come, anyone, and pick a fight here. As long as there IS something to fight for. Raw materials. Crystals. Land and Space. You know how it goes."

The younger couldn't help but smile as he looked back, out past the view port, and onto the other ships outside. "Only, it seems we have the upperhand."

The older man stared for a moment, at a passing Cruiser. A Dirge Battleship had nearly completed its pass by their ship when he spoke up again. "How long then?"

"Fifteen Hours."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For a single-planet interstellar nation, resources are few and far between, and more precious for their rarity. Most dear are the fuels that drive the great ships, in peace and war, across the galaxy, propelling the small empire to new heights of greatness. It is this materialé that fuels the hearts of those who seek it, yearning only to make their mighty empire so much the better.

Sighing, Admiral Harold Rakno crumpled up the log sheet, tossing it into the trash -- attempting, anyway, since it bounced off the rim. How could he ever hope to finish his military strategem on the gathering of resources if he was too busy -- gathering resources? The dignified greyhair stood smoothly, his motions belying his seventy-some years of life. Granted, the maximum life expectancy of an Imglotian was 120, minimum, but he was still getting up there.

The officer paced around his wardroom idly. There was an eerie hum from somewhere behind him; that would be the Hantog Slipspace drive, ready to tear a hole in the fabric of space and time should an emergency occur. It sucked enormous amounts of power -- the massive Death-Class Battleship (http://img03.picoodle.com/img/img03/3/9/30/f_Deathm_5e8daa3.jpg) had 13 separate fusion reactors for its weaponry, shielding, and propulsion -- and, frankly, was magic so far as anyone without a triple master's in Quantum Physics, Astronomy, and Newtonian Mechanics was concerned.

However, those reactors did use fuel, and Tigeria only had so much Palladium and heavy water to go around. So, what was the mighty 19-ship 1st Home Defense Fleet doing? Playing courier. A planet had been spotted by probes in this area that had a surface composition suggesting the sort of things that the Immortal Lands needed. And thus, instead of sending the Battle or Expeditionary fleets, they sent the strongest and most powerful of all. Oh well; resistance, if any, was likely to be short-lived.

Rakno's headset buzzed, and he pressed the speaker to his ear. "Sir, coming on predicted coordinates now -- we're ready to punch through."

"Hold, lieutenant," the Admiral said. In another burst of energy, he quickly made his way to the lift, which took him right up to the bridge.

While his presence wasn't critical, he always enjoyed the crossing-over from Slip- to Realspace. There was something so horrifying on a primal level, watching the laws of nature and/or physics be torn asunder, figuratively and literally. The Hantog drive roared, and the white fog-like sight flashed before resolving into the black of space, shiny pinpricks in the distance indicating stars. Or maybe not.

"Sir! Multiple contacts! There's a war going on here!"

Rakno could see that for himself. Flashes of light came from weapons, bombarding a planet, and several large warships lumbered about, casting a dark shadow on the planet. "Will they have known we were coming?" he asked, knowing the answer.

"No sir," a bridge officer responded. "We would have been essentially invisible 'till the space breach. Then, they would have gotten a mild shock."

"Prepare weapons, and arm shields," Rakno ordered, and the fleet lit up for war. "We don't know their intentions, but let's prepare for the worst, eh?"

A small battlegroup of ships, which were on their way to join the main fleet orbiting the planet, with flotilla's forming their vanguard approached, were nearby when the new arrivals entered the system.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Contact." The dull voice above the bridge head spoke. "Outter scans show warships." The Commander paused as he looked at his console. "Hostile? Allies? Comfirm." The voice returned, "No information applied."

"Damn. Assume contact." A man with various robotic attachments and bio-augments brought up the main screens. "Sending sir."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This is a automatic message from the Twilight Cruiser Aeon. You have entered a Fleet Pact Rhine airspace. If you have no wish for contact, please leave at the best possible moment. If you were sent to assist, contact the nearest commanding officer.

The message scrambled for a moment, with texts in basic forming behind it. Then the visual message came through.

"This is Commander Dhirim. State your intentions and your service. This is a Pact Rhine warzone, we have no time for tourists, and I'm trying to delay orders to ignore contact and blast you out of the sky. So come on then, get it out before someone of higher rank shows up and starts barking for blood."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Above the planet the bombardment came to an end, and now only minor engagements were taking place on the fringes of the system. More Rhine ships arrived, shifting the space on the edges of the system to take the inferior enemies by surprise, but for the most part ignoreing the new contacts.

OOC:

Also, its a damn good thing you showed up TGLT. For a moment there, I thought I'd have to raise some hell all alone.

Also, don't be shy people. Lots of space righ' 'ere. Send in some ships. A ship. Big or small, tall or short, all welcome to come and get on something lucrative. Theres alot of space for the taking. Some planets to pillage. Riches to pilfer. And some battles to be fought. Jump in, jump out. Stay in, do without. *Head ache* Okay I'm done.

This is a automatic message from the Twilight Cruiser Aeon. You have entered a Fleet Pact Rhine airspace. If you have no wish for contact, please leave at the best possible moment. If you were sent to assist, contact the nearest commanding officer.

"This is Commander Dhirim. State your intentions and your service. This is a Pact Rhine warzone, we have no time for tourists, and I'm trying to delay orders to ignore contact and blast you out of the sky. So come on then, get it out before someone of higher rank shows up and starts barking for blood."

"Check the charts," Rakno said quietly as the bridge exploded into activity. Something just wasn't right, if there were orders to destroy all contacts. Rhine space? Hardly. This area was highly contested, free to anyone with a big enough stick. "Wasn't this planet supposed to be unpopulated? We only go in on unpopulated planets."

"Sir?" The navigation officer fiddled with a 3-dimensional holo-chart. A glowing area was ignited in blue. "This is Pact Rhine territory. And here is our current location." A dot appeared in a glowing red patch of space outside -- but just barely -- the protected space of the Pact. "This world was identified as uninhabited -- but those burning cities we see indicate otherwise."

"So the Pact is lying." The admiral examined the map in detail. "We were going to be pirating a planet full of people." This was contested space, sure, but something didn't sit right with him. The whole affair had him feeling more than a little suspicious. Now... what to do...

"Send response as follows, ensign," he said to one of the comms officers. He took out his datapad and began dictating into it:

"To Commander Dhirim,

We very much appreciate the grace period you have given us, and thank you for not attacking. However, two things have come to our attention. Firstly. While we understand the intricacies of territoriality in large space-faring nations or empires, we also understand that, like a terrestrial navy, there are, so to speak, international waters. This is contested space and has no claim by anyone.

Secondly. I will not lie and tell you that we were passing through. Our probes indicated a planet very rich in resources in this sector, and we, of course, jumped on the opportunity -- but only after checking the charts to confirm that it was uninhabited. Obviously, we were wrong, and we would have turned back accordingly." And been reprimanded by Command and told to 'exhaust all alternatives' -- AKA pirate. "However, concern arises when we arrive to see a nation assaulting a planet that was obviously undeveloped enough to escape the attentions of the galactic surveyors, and more suspicion is cast upon the situation when the planet just so happens to be incredibly valuable.

So, now we give you our ultimatum. Come up with a very good reason why you are attacking a comparatively defensive planet, or face the wrath of the Immortal Lands of the Great Lord Tiger."

The ships spread out as he spoke, until they were formed in a very offensive manner.


Kinda OOC:

Positioned like this ATM:

888_#_ #__# 888
8 ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ 8
_____ 8 _8

^^ = Death-Class Battleships
# = Plague-Class Destroyers
8 = Doombringer-Class Assault Carriers
_ = placeholder for space -- so that the diagram remains correct.

OOC: Bump so that someone else will join.

tag for post....

( 3 hours ago....)

" I hate sending out these God-Damned Probes... Nothing good comes from these things." snared an Ensign as he in placed multiple Dime Coordinates in his holo console.

Another Ensign assigned to help started to laugh with a slight glint of sarcasem as he replied...

" Why... dont you like the feeling of inpending battle, and the drums of Battle?"

The other looked back and snapped back sharpely...

" Dont start with me, you weren't there when Reaver struck. I was. I survived."

The other Ensign nodded, and went back to doing his assignments. But even with his joking he knew that battles the Explorationary forces go through where bad and where almost never documented by the Imperial Command. As the Ensigns finished their assignments a very femine voice came ove the neuro0link to confirm Probe luanches....

" Probes Alpha though zeta luanched. Dime-Jump initiated..."

The Probes jumped from their tubes and sped out into the void and with tiny bright flashes entered Cross-dime space and came forth in their destinations...

( Inside the Fleet Commanders Office )

".... I am simplely asking for a week of R&R. I haven't been home in years, I only want to see my family." said the Fleet Commander as he sat quitely in his chair and conversed with his Superior over his Nuero-link

" Valink, I understand your wanting to return, but the Imperial Seneate is getting nosy about the operates within the Explorationary forces and is looking for Blood. you know the Emperors let the Seneate run the show unless something really bad happens. And they have already launched investigations into Reavers Turning. I cant have you come back yet as you may be called for questioning." replied his superior.

" Understood. Valink over and out."

As he closed the link he rubbed his eyes and lended back in his chair and let out a large sigh... but his rest would end just as fast as it began...

" Ensign... Report on the probe luanches...." he called out on his Link

The Ensigns where cuaght off guard by the sudden request...

" Sir, all probes are in Dime-space an will be exiting in 5...4...3...2...1.. exit confirmed... Probes Alpha, Beta, omega, and.... hold on... Sir Probe Zeta has detected high influxes of Weaponized energies and frenquencies in this sector..( Live feed ). I can see multiple warships of unknown origin. I see... an Orbital Bombardment just just finished and a fleet is orbiting just above the plaets atmosphere." reported the Ensign

" Roger." said the Commander before cutting his link off and tapping into the ships systems and gave an emergency announcment...

" All vessels, attention all vessels, I am ordering an immediate Dime jump to the locations now being since to your Navi-systems. We jump in 5 minutes."

The message was heard loud and clear within all the ships and the fleet was soon prepared for the jump. As the Commander exited his office he willed his body to the bidge and took his place in his chair at the head of his Vessel.

" Commander all units ready for Dime-jump at your Command." called out his Helms-Officer.

" Good All Vessels begin jump in 5...4...3...2...1... Jump!" called out the Commander as he closed his eyes for just a second.

( 2.6 seconds later Just within Pact Rhine space )

Just as fast of the fleet exited Alpha Universe it reappeared just moments later just within the contested Pact Rhine space, and much to the suprise of the fleet hey weren't the only ones.....

Dhirim returned feed to the other ship. A devicer got the message through after a few tense moments.

Message Sent. Directing response.

"While I thank you for not dodgeing the question, I have to be honest in saying, I have no idea why were fighting here. At least no more idea then you. While Pact Rhine does indeed face the warranted laws, set by a galactic communinty in question or otherwise, we can not stand by with invaders at our gates. This space was contested by our military and trade forces months before, turning away bands of pirates and other factions and houses entering. We tried to reason with this race before, and again now. Their only response was war. That is, before the rest of our fleet arrived and turned their inferior forces to slag.

"They would not leave, so our only response was to destroy the holding they forced here, and it appears beyond this system. We scan several more agressors in such contested space, that our only choice was to commit several battlegroups to engage them.

"And now you come, and it seems that you to are leaning to attack us. It seems you were wrong, just as we, as to whether or not anyone really was stepping on the edge of our borders, and our recent claims. And now you come to the outter sector? I'm sorry, but perhaps it is not us that are overstepping our bounds. Do you wish to rush to the defense of a race you do not even know? Even though my forefathers fought aliens such as yourself when all he had at his hand was a crude hand cannon or a spear? When at the time, aliens enslaved us, and tore any innovation away from our hands, kicking us back to the fields like animals? No sir. We shall not let them have the chance. What now then, good sir, do you propose?"

Message End.

As the remaining forces were sent fleeing, and ships from planetside stopped appearing, the Pact Rhine ships on the edges of the planet came in support of Dhirim's Battlegroup. Formations were enplaced, ready to engage the new arrivals at a moments notice...meanwhile, a few of the Capital Ships left their perch at the planets orbit, menaceing with arrays of awesome firepower, coming to aide Dhirim should a fight escalate from deplomacy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Route power to the shields from our HoG. And keep the weapons hot. This could get nasty." A devicer rushed to Dhirim's side. "Sir, more contacts." Dhirim rubbed his forehead, tenseing his shoulders. "I need a vacation."

Running his hands through his hair, Rakno continued the delayed conversation.

"Commander, I assure you that your rhetoric has not gone unnoticed. However, I feel need to clarify our position in all this. Indeed, we would have attacked had you confirmed our suspicions that this world was being crushed under your boot for no reason other than resources. You have compared us to the conquerors, in fact. You presumed that we are eager for war, and to that point, I will quote from your message--" and here he stabbed at his data pad until he found a transcription of the broadcast.

"Ah, here. 'Even though my forefathers fought aliens such as yourself when all he had at his hand was a crude hand cannon or a spear? When at the time, aliens enslaved us, and tore any innovation away from our hands, kicking us back to the fields like animals?' Naturally, this speaking of enslavement and your past experiences -- negative ones, they seem to be -- with extraterrestrials can't help but be worrying to us. Are we not all humans? Must this truly end in bloodshed?"

The admiral pondered the message again. Now was the hardest part -- what would he do?

"... Commander Dhirim. We will take the following course of action." What? "Should the rest of this enemy fleet arrive*, we shall stand ready and fight with you when the time comes to separate the wheat from the chaff. In exchange, we merely request permission to salvage these ships, and as this planet is not within your space but still within your reach, permission to harvest some resources from the planet. If not, we will show ourselves out of the system and leave you to your war."

The message was sent.

[OOC]* Hint-hint. Oh, please, God, hint-hint. The Death-Class hasn't fought anything yet, and here I have 4.

Tag!

(OOC: I've been itching for FT since I threw together a factbook. And I'm not fighting a ship whose entire class is named Death! Besides, aren't we, you know, allies?)

IC:
Other side of the system

"Admiral, we're exiting warp-space now."

"Very good, commander. Raise void-shields, and charge the weapons. Ready the Nova cannon."

"Yes, sir."

Admiral Garrus Fenris stood on the flagship of his fleet, an Apocalypse (http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/mediawiki/images/b/b5/ApocalypseClassBattleship.JPG) class battleship christened the Justice. His fleet, the Angenterian 4th fleet, had been ordered to gain a foothold in the area known as Pact Rhine Space, which, to their knowledge, had been claimed by at least 7 different major galactic powers, one of them being the Angenterians themselves. However, none of them had seen fit to enforce that claim, as of yet...

Looking out the viewport, the Angenterian fleet could be seen looming around the Justice. All classes of Imperial vessel, from massive battleships down to nimble interceptor craft were visible, as they began to descend onto the area.

"Admiral, auspex sweep is picking up multiple energy discharges. Looks like the fight's already started."

"Is that so?" Fenris replied, raising an eyebrow. "Location?"

"It's on the other side of the system, sir."

"Well, we don't have to deal with them just yet." Fenris stated, looking out the viewport. He lowered his voice, so nobody else could hear him "Seems like we have our own problems to deal with..."

Which was certainly true, ahead of them stood another fleet of alien vessels, which formed a defensive formation around a nearby planet, and was advancing towards them. Apparently, the planet was inhabited to some degree. The Admiral straightened up. It was time.

"Sir!" An officer reported. "Alien ships coming into our sector!"

"Good." Admiral Fenris replied. "Our first catch of the day." He turned to address his bridge crew, pointing at the main viewscreen. "Open fire!"

With that, the Imperial Fleet burst into action. The Justice's Nova cannon was first. With a great flash of energy, a beam erupted through the prow of the flagship, punching through the vanguard of the alien fleet, utterly disintegrating a cluster of alien ships. This was followed by a wave of fire from the Imperial ships, which washed over them. Apparently, these aliens were not as advanced as the Angenterian Imperial Navy. The aliens returned fire, firing what weapons their ships had against the Angenterians, and weapons discharges raged across space as the fleets tangled for supremacy. Fighter craft danced around each other in fierce dogfights, as larger carrier vessels sent wave after wave into the fray.

(OOC: This is supposed to be the NPC race TUF is fighting, but on the other side of the system, so I can start shooting things right away. If there's a problem with that, let me know. Also, feel free to detect my massive Nova Cannon of death whenever you feel like it.)

"Massive energy reading, sir! Coming from the other end of the system!"

"Talk to me, Ensign!" Rakno shouted at the junior officer in response. "What's going on!"

"Sir, an unknown fleet just arrived and began weapons discharge -- likely against those same pirates indicated by Pact Rhine. They have some sort of massive energy-based weapon, at least indicated by these signatures." The screen flashed with gauges and symbols, unintelligible even to an experienced seaman (spaceman?) like the Admiral. It made sense to the technician, though, and he continued to interpret for the rest of the bridge.

"Are we certain that it's not the hostiles with reinforcements, getting in a tussle with Pact ships?"

"Potentially, sir. But the fleet arrived using a rather primitive warp system -- likely a rather fledgling interstellar system."

Rubbing his chin, Rakno considered this. "Fine," he said. "Helmsman, bring The Black Death on a course with those signals, and prepare for a micro-slip. Captain," he said to another officer, "Call up another Death and half of the Doombringers. We're gonna join the battle, whichever way it flows."

Nodding, his orders were swiftly carried out. Soon enough, the flagship of the fleet, along with another of its battleship brethren and 6 of the assault carriers, was ready to leap across the system. "Ready... jump!" he called out.

In front of them, a rip in space appeared. The ship jumped into it, and a second later, came out into space again, having traveled the distance in question through the other dimension of Slipspace. The halved fleet arrived onto a scene of war, and indeed, there were two parties at work here. One fleet of ships was marked by the indicator "PRT" -- Pirate, the ships which they had watched the Pact attack. The other wasn't a question mark, as was expected -- instead, it was "ANG".

"Angenteria?" Rakno asked no one in particular, and the sensors kid nodded absently, still navigating his complex display. Rakno nodded, himself. "Well, then: find targets and unleash the fire!"

Gemini-Type Starfighters (http://img27.picoodle.com/img/img27/3/9/27/f_Geminim_0892bda.jpg) leaped out of the Doombringer's bays, 10 per ship for a total of 60 powerful fighters joining the fray. The vast array of energy weapons that the Doombringers (http://img37.picoodle.com/img/img37/3/9/27/f_Doombringerm_eb3bc09.jpg) mounted on their chins blazed into action. But the true sight to behold came as the Death-class Battleships spoke.

Locking onto a large enemy ship, the Black Death showed its doomed victim on the primary bridge screen. Rakno contemplated it; it was a heavily armored enemy battleship, proud and sure of itself. "Obliterate it," he said simply. "Let Angenteria see how you truly cause damage."

There was a massive buzz, like an earthquake caused by millions of giant wasps, from the left side of the ship as the port Ragnarok coilgun's electromagnets dragged its deadly shell down the barrel, accelerating the Polonium slug to half the speed of light. The effect was mirrored by the starboard cannon, and Rakno watched as glowing blue shells of nuclear doom -- explosion and radiation -- streaked across the heavens, bound for the unfortunate target.

The ship in question quite obviously tried desperately to maneuver from the path of the deadly ordnance, but to no avail. The first shell struck it just ahead of the engines, the second smashing into the face of the ship. The glow of the explosion, like a furious blue sun, was such that Rakno was forced to avert his eyes -- but he quickly returned his sight forward as the glow faded. Little was left of the ship, but for sickeningly glowing scrap that would be probably kill a man, were they not shielded, even from this range.

"Oops," Rakno said coldly. "Our mistake. So, Pact Rhine," Rakno said, the last being directed through his headset, "Seeing what we can do, will you accept our offer?"

(OOC: You shooting at me? Or the pirates?)

A loud tearing sound as slipspace atmosphere flooded into empty space, a large Altairan Lin Kuei Dreadnaughthttp://images.wikia.com/halo/images/c/c5/Shadow_of_Intent.jpg jumped out of slipspace.

"Captain, we have multiple contacts in the sector"
Dammit, this was supposed to be abandoned space.
"Direct power to weapons, charge plasma emitters an we better damn well have shields up. Send a spray of plasma towards them and alert the fleet."
The ship glimmered as motes of light appeared on the exterior, plasma lanced into space and hit hard on several vessels.

OOC: Geez, can't anyone bother to OOC their targets for us? Altairan, who you be fightin' then?

IC:

Dhirim sighed and waited a moment until his comfirmation arrived.

Message Sent. Directing response.

"As the case is, Ship-Master Harkaan accepts your proposal. He shall be arriveing in his Flagship, the Battlecruiser Downfall soon. Engage hostiles with all force required. And then will see about real deplomacy. You'll get your cut, I assure you that. But lets see if you can back up you end of the bargain, and secure this space."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dhirim sighed. He obviously didn't think that the contested space would stay unclaimed long after it was secured. The Senators would order it into official custody...and maybe keep the Imglotian's off their backs with raw material claims and fuel depots. And with that, an entire system would be in military custody, ready for coloniaztion within a few years. But that could wait. Until all of the other contestants had decided to leave, or were dead. Rhine didn't need more then one 'partner' in this case. The Ship-Master had made that very clear...a 33 Kilometre long Flagship shows his intentions very well. But for now, one opponet at a time.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Admiral, direct your ships where need be. I'm not in charge of what you do or not, just do something, if anything if you intend to keep your end of the deal. Some Dirge Class Battleships which you might be familiar with, will offer you some assitance. Now, excuse me, but I need to turn away a few uninvited guests."

Feed Cut
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dhirim was assured command by the Ship-Master, for now atleast. He was quite aware of the power the Imglotian's posed, but he figured they would prove potent allies, enough to please Harkaan atleast.

Dirge Class Battleships, which were a stunning 16 Kilometres long, a surpriseing size compared to the 1-2 Kilometre length of the Pact's Frigates and Cruisers. They were lined with arrays of Plasma Cannons, but their most stunning feature was their advanced Hulls and Shields, designed to absorb kinetic discharges and repulse all but the most powerful radioactive blasts. Which would be the melt down of the ships own Heart of Gold Plasma Reactor, impossible to reach from within the depths of the ships Vault System. A set of interlocking armourys, labs, and storage centers guarded by the Pact Rhines fearsome forces. It was a mighty task to last more then a few engagements aboard a Rhine ship, against Marines and Siege Drones trained or programmed for all sorts of space combat. It was another to break into a Vault System.

Bristleing with arrays of awesome firepower, their Main Cannons, large batterys still glowing hot from a large bombardment. Three of the Battleships seemed to shudder and shake for a moment before the vanished from their position near Dhirims battlegroup, and appeared near the Angenteria ships, their Data Misplacement Hardcoder's putting them right on top of the new arrivals.

Engage hostile forces. Destroy all oppostition. Repulse all invaders. For Rhine.

For Rhine.

"For Rhine." Was the last message Dhirim sent to the Imglotian Admiral, before closing his eyes, and ordering his ship to displace itself.

OOC: basically everyone since we are trying to claim the system
IC: More rips formed and a large fleet jumps out of slipspace, 19 more Lin Kuei and 5 Nightmare baseships http://www.trekmeshes.ch/meshes/largethumbs/STARBASE201.JPG pulled into the system. The fleet began targeting the people attacking the planet

"The ships glassing that planet are priority one, we have to claim it unscathed."
"Call for some shield projector stations"

Large glares shone through space as the Nightmare ships pooled their plasma bolts into a large lance the size of a ship, it steered toward the nearest enemy impacting and atomizing the ship. The energy use temporarily downed the shields of the stations.

"Recharge faster, arm MACs"

Imperial Battleship
Justice

Admiral Fenris observed as the battle was fought out. It seemed the technology of these aliens were obsolete when compared to that of the Angenterian Imperial Navy, and a victory for the Holy Imperium seemed almost inevitable.

"Admiral!" a bridge officer reported, as a blue light flashed across the main viewscreen. "New contacts detected!"

"IFF?"

"..." The officer was silent as he ran the detected ship through the database "...ID confirmed! They're Imglot ships!"

"Imglots?" The Admiral said "are they hostile?"

"Not yet, sir."

He nodded. The battle went on.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Imperial Battleship - Oberon Class
Imperial Might

Captain Tobias sat in his command chair as he maneuvered his ship through the battle. He had been trading salvos of fire with another alien vessel, which seemed to be the equivalent of a battleship. However, the differences of technology were beginning to show.

The enemy ship was clearly losing. Their shields had died out, and several holes were ruptured in it's hull.

Tobias smiled, and stood up. It was time to deliver the final blow.

"Starboard prow" He said, calm and collected "Fire."

The guns of the Angenterian ship opened fire, impacting on the alien ship with furious detonations, ripping it apart under the massed fire.

"Enemy destroyed, Captain."

Tobias nodded "Helm, come about to beari-"

His voice was cut off by the report of a new contact. Above the battleship loomed another battleship of alien origin, but not the same type as the one they just destroyed. This one was bigger, and comparative in size with an Angenterian Battleship.

"Sweet Emperor!" Tobias said "Where did it come from!?"

Two Nightmare ships died in the hail of fire, the other three escaping with damaged systems.
"Dammit those things are expensive, call for more ships"
"Firing MACs"
Bolts of liquid magnesium and thermite ripped through space adding to the fire storm.

Dude, you're kinda godmodding. From what I can gather, if you are attacking the fleet glassing the planet, you're assaulting units of TUF -- and you have to give him the chance to answer your shot. Let him decide what damage occurs. Don't do the "ZOMG SUPERLAZER PWN U" thing.

"What the hell!?" Rakno watched as a new fleet, with ships of a decidedly curving nature, arrived and began attacking all within their reach. This included Imglotian ships -- and that just wasn't going to do.

"Get the rest of the fleet here," he barked, and the 11 ships he had left behind slid into Slipspace for the tiny jump across the system. As they emerged, one of the Doombringers received a plasma bolt full on, and the shields flared angrily before giving away and yielding a decent hole. The rest of the ships sped away, dodging the enemy assaults.

"All Death-Classes, Ragnaroks on-target! Each ship targets one of those baseships -- the 3 Plagues target the fifth!" Two coilguns roared from each Death-Class, sending nuclear projectiles towards the mobile space stations; three combined came from the smaller Plague-Class Destroyers, targeting the remaining ship. The Doombringers, meanwhile, fired their energy cannons at the rest of the enemy fleet, the massive beams of light making an impressive show of force.

Already, 20 Gemini Starfighters would be stranded in space if they weren't destroyed -- one of the Doombringers, the one which had received its damage as it slid into Realspace was crippled beyond repair; the other one was completely obliterated by the enemy. The blue streaks charging towards those space stations were what would deliver the Immortal Lands to victory, if it was destined.

"Contact Tigeria," Rakno said brusquely. "Get a relief fleet."

"Already done, sir. The 4th Expeditionary Fleet is making all speed here. They have 2 Deaths, 3 Plagues, and an additional 8 Doombringers."

"ETA?"

"One standard hour or so, sir."

"The Great Lord help us," Rakno breathed. He hopped on his comms system. "Commander Dhirim, come in. We are going to engage this new threat; repeat, the Immortal Lands WILL ENGAGE. Please assist us, unless you want all parties involved doomed to death at their hands." He fell silent as the battle unfolded.

[OOC]Here you go, for reference:

Doombringer-Class: 660 Meter Assault Carrier:

http://img34.picoodle.com/img/img34/3/12/5/f_Doombringerm_db91e95.jpg

Plague-Class: 800 Meter Destroyer:

http://img19.picoodle.com/img/img19/3/12/16/f_Plaguem_01fc546.jpg

Death-Class: 1800 Meter Battleship:

http://img03.picoodle.com/img/img03/3/9/30/f_Deathm_5e8daa3.jpg

OOC: Hey TUF why didn't you TG me i'm your ally haha, any chance I could still join?

Imperial Battleship
Justice

The battle raged on. Admiral Fenris stood upon the bridge of his flagship as he quietly observed the battle, so far pleased with the results. Fighters zoomed across the viewscreen at high speed, pursuing their alien counterparts.

"Admiral!" Another officer shouted, multiple flashing lights appearing on his auspex screen. "Multiple contacts entering the system! The Imglots are moving to engage!"

"There is too many ships there for them to handle. Divert a detachment to assist them." The Imglot Empire had been past allies of the Holy Imperium, the two races even signing a treaty as a show of friendship. They couldn't let them down.

"Yes, sir!"

A flotilla of 15 ships, headed by the Retribution-class Battleship Divine Light made a small in-system warp jump, coming out at the flank of the Imglot fleet.
-------------------------------------
Divine Light

"Captain, warp jump successful."

"Excellent." Captain Julia Niro nodded, and stood up from her command chair. "Open a channel to the Imglots."

"Yes, ma'am!"

Imglot vessels,
"This is Captain Julia Niro of the Angenterian Imperial Navy. Does anybody need a hand?"

As soon as the transmission was cut, she turned to her crew. The Imglots seemed to be doing their part against the battleships, so...

"Open fire!" She ordered "Target the smaller vessels! Keep them of the Imglots' backs!"

With that, the Angenterian ships opened fire, aimed for the new arrivals. Fighters swarmed out of the carrier-frigates, and heavier ordinance streamed from their firing chambers towards the new enemies.

OCC: Sorry, I sorta thought you were on top of things. Come on in.

Also, peshaw. My shields just absorb all that waste of energy that he calls MAC cannons. Kinetic, I say. What does he fire? Pfft.

IC:

Two Dirge Class Battleships appeared alongside the Imglotians forces, now with five less Capital Ships in orbit of the Pact's claim. Two were enough to absorb a grunt worthy brunt of damage for the Imglotians, and still hold up well enough. However, the fire directed at them forced them to transfer their HoG's taskers to each of the ship's shields. They did serve to keep fire off the Imglot forces.

Message from Commander Gwen.

"Admiral, me and my friend Tuskanov here will keep these blokes off your back. Get on with it then, and show these chaps how to rough it!" The female voice was slightly shrill but had a spark to it. A command to her crew was left for the Imglotian to hear. "Main Cannon's, fire! Show the bastards what to!"

End Message
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dhirim and his Battlegroup appeared under Angenteria. Crusader Fighters, and Fire-Locust Bombers supported them from his Battlecruisers hangers, and they were in perfect position to pin the Angenteria against the three Capital Ships above.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Message Sent; Angenteria Forces.

"This is Commander Dhirim. Enjoy that seat, your going to die in it sir. Your going to die in it."

Message End; Further Contact Jammed.

The Dirge Class Battleships Opened fire, their Plasma Cannons suited to distract and annoy Capital-Class ships, and turn any lesser into slag. While heavier batterys pouned, shelling enemy Battleships and cruisers with hull shattering fire. Fighters danced around, distracting and causeing disarray among enemy fighters, merely causeing confusion more then damage, but that to was a damage in itself. Bombers slipped through dogfights, pounding enemy Capital Ships with orbs of fire, and darting away before proper measures could be taken against them.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Message Sent. Imglot Forces.

"This is commander Dhirim. Engageing enemy forces with my battlegroup. Hows the situation over there and above planet? Are you holding out with the good Admiral-Minor Gwen and her couterpart Tuskanov? I assure you, they are quite good at causeing a ruckus among enemy ranks." The message was interupted for a moment. "Bastards. Raise batterys forty degrees, and pound them into dust!"

Message End.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Meanwhile, a call to arms sent to the forces of The Federation, Pact Rhine's close allies was sent. Soon, very soon, the party will be met, and the battle will have merely begun.

EDIT:

Um. This is awkward. Yeah, Angenteria, not only did I plan on attacking you, nothing personal and all that by the way, but TGLT is on my side. *Shifty Eyes* Whoops?

EDIT2:

Also, Altairan, that better have been a ship smaller then a Capital Ships. My main asset are my superior shields and hull, so your not cracking that shell with just one volly, or even a few vollys of fire...to bad their damn hard to pull together. Big damn things too.

(OOC: We have shields too, you know. Also, I left a message on your profile, TUF.)

The attack by the TUF forces, while certainly not unsuspected by the Angenterian commanders (as they could not verify the loyalty of any race here, with the possible exception of the Imglots), still caught them off-guard, if only just for a moment. The targeted Imperial ships, caught in the first volleys of the attack, were ripped to shreds by enemy fire, while the few survivors were harassed by waves of enemy fighters as they streamed back to the main group.

However, the battle was far from over.

Angenterian ships regrouped into an offensive formation. Fighters streamed out of the main carrier ships, re-prioritizing their targets to see the newly-arrived TUF fighters and bombers as the main threat, and sped to engage them. The remaining ships capable of ship-to-ship combat bore their heavy guns to bear against the newly-arrived TUF battleships, concentrating their heaviest fire against them.

--------------------------------------------------------
Justice

"This is Commander Dhirim. Enjoy that seat, you're going to die in it, sir. You're going to die in it."

The message from the TUF commander played across the bridge of the Angenterian ship, as the bridge crew went about their tasks.

"How arrogant." Admiral Fenris said out loud, cutting off the transmission. If it was intended to scare them, it did not affect the admiral, who took it as a knocked-off and cheesy attempt to scare them into submission. "Send them a response."

The message was sent back to the TUF ships.

Do not attempt to frighten us with your words, alien. Our duel has only begun.

He turned away. "What's the status of the Nova Cannon?"

Yeah, this other guy seems to have disappeared. I retconned my post so that I've only lost two Doombringers instead of 3, so he can still hop in if he returns.

"What's going on here?" Rakno shouted as the Angenterians turned to fight the Pact Rhine ships arriving. "Are they fighting each other?"

"Yes, sir. The new arrivals have gone silent, but those other two parties are now attacking each other. Angenteria is the weaker side here."

The Admiral quickly considered the numbers. "Estimated time to 4th Fleet arrival?"

"30 minutes, sir."

"Damn." He watched the Angenterian ships spin to engage the Pact Rhine ships. "Well, there's a treaty we have to honor. All Deaths and Plagues, target a TUF capital ship. All Gemini fighters, prepare to engage after the Ragnaroks launch." He watched his fleet manuever. "They'll have a few seconds warning when our guns energize, so fire fast and all together. On my mark."

The time passed slowly to Rakno, as Angenterian weapons streaked towards the Pact Rhine ships and vice-versa. The Imglot ships remained vaguely undecided in space, so the attack would be relatively unnoticed. Rakno hopped on the comms to Angenteria, the system encrypting with the most powerful systems that the flagship could manage.

"The Watchman Treaty will be honored, friends," Rakno said quietly as firing solutions crawled across the screen. "We will fight with you." He pressed a button on his console, broadcasting not just to all friendly ships, but to everyone in the area, friend and foe alike.

"Mark."

Roaring, The Black Death launched another pair of glowing blue shells at half light-speed, joining another 9 shells streaking towards the United Fleet ships. "Engage!" Rakno shouted, and the Doombringers whirled to fire their heavy front-mounted energy weapons at the enemy. The numerous turrets on each of the Imglotian ships bristled, waiting for enemies to approach.

"Recalculate that pattern, and give the shields an energy spike." The Pact Ships pinning the Angenteria, unleashed a new wave of attacks, with fighters pulling back to prevent heavy losses. A Frigate spun away, knocking shields with a Cruiser. The ships were blown away in a hail of fire. Several cruisers launched rounds at the enemy ships using heavy firepower, to overpower the Battleship's shields. More rounds pounded out of the Pact's ships, using their positions to take out one shield at a time. Bombers weaved back in under the covering fire, still trying to lose the snapping gaze of enemy fighters.

"Sir, the other force has chosen to side with the ship's we're attacking." Dhirim waved away the man. "Less to worry about. We'll delay them. The only thing that will save them from destruction, is retreat, or to destroy all of our ship's before Harkaan arrives with the Homefleet. They won't stand a chance against that many vessels. But if only we had a Battlecruiser here sooner...direct a Avatar Missile volly at them."

Three more Battlegroups had managed to form up from the ambushing ships on the edges of the system. They edged forward to flank the Imglot ship's, while the other one tried to break the Angenteria fleet in aide of Dhirim's group. Still several Capitalships stood watch over the planet, threatening to leave their post and cause destruction among enemy ranks.

OOC:

Is that your way of getting back at me? Well I hope your plan goes your way. ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

*Nyaaa!*

Also, I had no friggin' idea what's going on. Angenteria is allied to TGLT, the TGLT had a treaty, and now things are kinda confusing...Yeah, maybe this is a misunderstanding. Will know by the time our first ships are trashed, and we've had enough fight. As it seems no one is happy about what's goin' on here. Weird stuff.

You attacked Angenteria. That's a problem, because we're allies, because of the Watchman Treaty. You attack Angenteria, so we honor the Treaty. Sorry.

"Incoming missile barrage, sir!" A signals officer's fingers ran across his input board. "Antiship missiles, closing fast!"

The innumerable xasers mounted on the Imglotian ships spun to engage the inbound vamps, filling space with their bright blue beams. Missiles exploded as they were superheated, but some got through the point defense and impacted on the ships. Ripples of energy issued from the impact points as the shields compensated, deflecting the energy of the concussion away from the ship. As was to be expected, though, the shields gave out on some of the ships.

"One Plague damaged!" an officer shouted unnecessarily as one of the cylindrical destroyers released an explosion off the Black Death's port bow. "Reporting Ragnarok failure, sir!"

"Doombringer heavily damaged, Admiral!" He turned to where an external display showed one of the rather small carriers burning from the inside, detonations ripping across it. The operator added, "They're going to -- " but cut off as set of shockwaves issued from the ship, its numerous nuclear reactors exploding. The Black Death shook violently as the concussion was spread across the shield.

"One of the Deaths is reporting damage, sir!" Rakno spun breathlessly to the first officer, who had spoken again. With bated breath, he waited for the damage report. "... they are reporting loss of 6 Savage xaser turrets, but the Ragnaroks remain at full functionality."

"It's time to fight back," Rakno said angrily. These fools thought they were tough? "Launch a Despair volley in return, and add another volley of Ragnarok shells."

Disposable hatches blew off of the Doombringers and Deaths as the Despair missile batteries were uncovered. Armed with a twenty megaton fusion warhead, they were intended for either surface bombardment or annihilation of enemy fleets. With a mighty glow, the engines ignited on the missiles, propelling them out of their sockets. Or so they were supposed to.

"Misfire on a Doombringer, sir! The one damaged when it jumped through Slipspace." There was another shudder throughout the flagship. "... It detonated, sir."

"May their souls rest eternally," Rakno breathed. Exploded within the shield... that would be instantaneous destruction of the ship. The other missiles went off without a hitch, though, and somewhere around a hundred missiles streaked in their own time towards the Pact Rhine ships. "Let it be soon..." he added, glancing at the countdown timer indicating predicted time before arrival of the 4th Fleet. 20 minutes left.

What about my Ragnarok rounds, eh? You gonna report on what they did? I don't care if your shields repel them or anything, but tell me something!

And it looks like we're both waiting for reinforcements.

(OOC: To explain our past, TGLT, me, and a couple others signed the Watchman Treaty a little while back, making us (kinda sorta maybe) allies. To summarize what's happened since I've got here:
-I arrive, started blowing up pirate NPC,
-TGLT arrives, shoots at pirate NPC,
-Altairan arrives, shoots at everybody,
-TGLT sends ships to shoot at Altairan, I do the same,
-You shoot at me, I shoot back,
-TGLT honors Watchman Treaty, shoots at you,
-You shoot back, this time at both of us.)

IC:
Battleship
Divine Light

"Ma'am! Enemy forces sighted! Approaching fast!" The bridge officer called out, multiple red lights flashing across his auspex screen.

"All ships, hard to port!" Niro called out to all Angenterian ships under her "Angulate downwards 75 degrees! Maximize void shields to upper decks! Deploy fighter screen to cover the rear" By turning towards the enemy and diving, they would expose the enemy vessels to the armored and shielded upper sides of the Angenterian ships, while the heavy guns hammered away at their fleet.

The ships responded with precision, moving in a way only those trained in shipboard operations could.

"Fire!" The Captain yelled, pointing toward the viewscreen.

The Angenterian ships exploded with weapons fire.
-------------------------------------------------------------

Battleship
Justice

"Sir! The Imglot forces are firing on the enemy!"

A cheer erupted through the deck as the news was heard, the officers celebrating the news with renewed spirits.

Admiral Fenris remained calm and composed, despite the good news.

"It's not over yet." He said. The flash of an exploding destroyer nearby lit up the bridge deck for a mere moment, before returning to normal, the destroyed hulk drifting away into the depths of space. The enemy forces were responding with strength, and Admiral Fenris knew they were slowly being pinned against a wall. Unless...

"Sir! Gunnery crews report the Nova Cannon is fully charged!"

Excellent, that was just what the Angenterians needed.

Hopefully, the Nova cannon would punch a hole through the enemy's seemingly impregnable line, allowing the Angenterian fleet to gain an advantage. And if not, it would, at the least, create come confusion in their lines.

"Target their battleships." He ordered "...fire."

Yet another great power surge built up through the Angenterian ship as the Nova Cannon beam sprung into action yet again. A massive energy beam flew out of the cannon, aimed at the massive TUF Battleships.

(OOC: My turn to shoot a super-awesome weapon of doom(!!!) at something!!)

EDIT: Damn, TGLT beat me to the post.

Incomming Missiles. Missile Intercepted. Missile Intercepted. Missile Intercepted...Missiles in range. Point Defense failure.

Many smaller ships shuddered and shook to pieces, or outright vanished, destroyed in the missile barrage. A Dirge had sustained damages, its shields failing, taking several Ragnarok rounds. The hulk sat there, not falling to pieces, but dead in space. More shells were taken in by cruisers, some repelled, and some causeing damage, and for the most part were repulsed with out much trouble from Capital Ships, but the strain was shown due to the attack.

Another Avatar Volly was fired, and the Flamebearer's on Cruisers and the Battleships errupted, sending out a barrage of Malice shells. The two Battlegroups arrived to battle, pinning the Imglot ships down with Malice and Avatar fire. Plasma Cannons turned the space between the two sides into a light show, energy splashing and pooling on enemy shields.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Is the Hypervelocity Cannon ready?" The Devicer took a moment to respond as he disengaged from the console he manned. "A few more minutes sir." Dhirim paused. "And our reinforcements?" The Devicer took a moment more. "Their about to launch from System-B. Enemies from System-C slowed them down. 18 Minutes estimated till arrival."

EDIT: For Angenteria; sorry, you posted first. I'll give you your awesome weapon of doom results now.

The Dirge shuddered as the bolt hit it dead on. Cracking the shields, and burning into the central vault system, the ship took itself in an implusion, giving the two other ships pause, before the repatterned their fireing position, and went on firing. Their hold on their opponets was more relaxed now, allowing smaller ships to easily sneak past, but keeping enemy Capital Ships pinned easily enough with Dhirim's support. A second Battlegroup was on its way...

"Partial missile success, sir," the weapons officer explained to Rakno as the screens flashed with the energy of enemy weapons. "We raised hell among the enemy's smaller ships."

"That's the problem, lieutenant. They have plenty of expendable ships, whereas all we have are true warships. Their larger ships remain comparatively unscathed," Rakno said worriedly, "other than that massive hulk that got smashed by the Ragnaroks. How many more P-rounds do we have left for those, anyway?" he asked no one in particular.

"4 remain on board, sir," weps answered, "and of course on board each of the other Deaths. Our two remaining Plagues respond with 3 and 2, respectively. After that, we're down to standard fusion slugs -- single megaton fusion warhead, no afterradiation. 10 of those on-board."

"Very well," Rakno said just as the Black Death shook with the release of another twin rounds of blue death. "Two remaining, then?" he asked rhetorically. The Admiral glanced at the mission timer. 15 minutes. That was all he had time to think before he was knocked off his feet. "Report!" he barked as he picked himself up, his age displaying itself for the first time in his life in the aches all over his body.

"Sir! Port Ragnarok is damaged beyond repair! The enemy hit us with more missiles! Another Death is reporting significant damage, but both Ragnaroks remain at full operation."

"Goddammit!" The admiral exclaimed, inciting the name of the deity once worshiped by the Imglotians' ancestors. "Fire remaining Despairs in conjunction with the last of the Deaths' P-rounds." This order was carried out, the blue shells on a straight path with individual enemy capital ships while white trails indicated the ion drives of the missiles arcing away from the launchers. "In twelve minutes," he added, looking one more time at the clock, "we are going to own this damned battle!"

Crumpled under preasure and force, then a implusion, two more Dirges went under, and another had taken massive amounts of damage. various scratchs and nicks dented Admiral-Minor Gwen's ship, and as she ordered a energy spike from her ships HoG, protecting them from enemy fire just in time, an explosion rocked the bridge as Tuskanov's Forlorn was over powered by missiles and Ragnarok shells.

"No!" Gwen cursed, and stamped her foot on the cold metal floor. "Fire everything! Everything." The Hypervelocity Cannon, the only one functioning now, besides Dhirim's, shouted its warcry as it pounded the Imglotian fleet. The Admiral let out a fierce cry as the ship drained all of its firepower on its massive assualt, and then took one to many shells, taking the ship down. Escape pods were launched, but Gwen was left behind, standing in the bridge overwhelmed with grief. The ship was left dead.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Arrival of Fleet Rhine; 10 Minutes.

The space shifted, and and the remaining four Dirge Battleships besides the ones with Dhirim appeared right in the forefront against the Imglotian fleet. Several Malice shells spluttered, and a Avatar barrage errupted again. But the balance of forces was now very shakey.

Rakno chose the oddest moment in time to glance at the starboard side display of the bridge. He watched an object plow into the bridge of the Death that was there, in a sort of slow motion, the Pact Rhine's HV shell causing perhaps the most damage it could hope to do.

"HOLY SHIT!" a bridge officer screamed, losing her professionalism in a burst of hysterics. The admiral wished to join her. There was a sickening implosion of the core of the battleship, followed by a massive explosion of the numerous reactors on board. Even from several hundred miles away, the energy of the detonation set off several damage klaxons on the Black Death. "Another battleship answers severe damage -- both cannons disabled!"

The displays again lit up with the streaks of the xasers, intercepting more enemy missiles. A pity that they couldn't respond. All the Deaths were out of P-rounds, left to nothing but basic warheads. He ordered the continued firing of the Ragnaroks using these less-powerful shells, their one advantage over the glowing blue rounds that the Imglotians had been using being less warning (given their lack of a glow).

They might or might not have been aware of it, but the Pact Rhine ships possessed the upper hand, at least offensively -- they evidently had ordinance yet. 4 more minutes, he thought, watching the clock anxiously.

Arrival of Fleet Rhine; 2 Minutes.

Dhirim shouted and slid across the bridge with a few of the other opperators. The Devicers were held in place by metallic limbs, some of which had sparks flying from, but were quickly disengaged and detached in favor of slower, safer methods.

"Status report." Dhirim dragged a crewmen up, pushing him in the right direction. "Damage to the Hypervelocity gun. I can unlock it with time." Dhirim shook his head. "We don't have time. I need those Capital Ships put down. Fire some Avatars.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Cannons clanked, the shuttered as another wave of rounds fired the Imglotians way glowed with vengeance. Cruisers and Frigates exploded, soaking up enemy fire. The Battleships repulsed enemy fire, returning another wave of Avatar Missiles...

Arrival of Fleet Rhine; 1 Minute.

"Report!" Admiral Fenris shouted, the noise from the Nova Cannon finally dying down, and the bridge returning to normal.

"Sir!" A voice responded "Direct hit!"

Another cheer erupted from the crew, but was silenced by a wave of Fenris' hand.

"Press the advantage. Have the cruisers and frigates attempt to penetrate the line, along with any remaining fighter support, while the Destroyers and Battleships keep the enemy guns occupied."

And the Angenterians moved to attack, the smaller ships attempting to press the attack, while the larger ones tried to keep the enemy busy.

"Slipspace anomaly detected, sir," a crewman reported calmly. Rakno saw that for himself, watching the space on the left flank of the enemy warp and distort, before an inexplicable sense of tearing came. Through the hole charged 3 more Plague Destroyers, 8 Doombringers (one of which was promptly smashed to pieces by enemy fire), and a pair of the pitchfork-like Death battleships.

"This is Admiral Kale Cooper," a voice said in Rakno's ear. "We will engage." The 7 Ragnarok barrels of the newcomers did speak, then, joining a small volley of Despair missiles from the fleet as it attacked the enemy forces. Rakno's own fleet reengaged, having been whittled down even further since the last count to little more than a handful of Doombringers, 2 working Deaths, and a single Plague, joining in the assault, even as the enemy's relief forces came.

"And so we start again," Rakno whispered as the battle began anew.

Arrival of Fleet Rhine. Estimated Number: 2 Dirge Class Battleships. 7 Twilight Class Cruisers. 20 Litany Class Frigates. Flagship Battlemarch, River Class Battlecruiser.

Ship-Master Harkaan cursed under his breath. He had to leave behind most of his fleet. Secureing so many systems took time, and he didn't have it. So he took what he could, and left. But among the crew, he had the finest, most refined men and women at hand.

The Fleet Appeared behind the four Battleships, who were now taking a serious pounding by the newly arrived enemy reinforcements. The 33 Kilometre long Battlecruiser moved at a slow but steady pace. An array of Flamebearers, Avatar Batterys, Voidmakers, Plasma Cannons of various ranges, and four Hypervelocity Cannons were at the ships disposal. Bringing the weapons to bear, was a different task, much like the count down of a superweapon in reality. Unless the enemies it faced were crazy enough to engage it directly. It was easily twice the size of a already huge Dirge Class. And it was currently, the only Battlecruiser Pact Rhine owned. Though in reality The Republic were the only ones that distributed anything bigger then a Battleship among the Fleet Pacts, Harkaan had ordered his ship special. The four Hypervelocity Cannons could make chaos in one volly of fire. And the ship gave away engine power for shield, hull, and weapon strength. There was just enough power to move the ship to bear and around space.

This of course, is simply because the ship could make a jump right on top of enemies that we're in range of a gravity field, of say something like a planet. In the emptyness of space however, the ship was extremely exposed to quick strikes, even when properly supported.

The four dirge ships before the newly arrived fleet were forced to retreat, one ship going dead in space as several rounds tore into its hull, past its shields.

"Unleash hell." The four Hypervelocity Cannons fired a volly at random enemy targets, dispenseing a shell that took a huge amount of time to reload.

Shells dispensed.

"Admiral, additional contacts detected." A crewman reported.

"More aliens?"

"No, sir." The crewman added. "Both the Imglots and the enemy have brought in rien-" the crewman stopped, her eyes widening "Massive energy buildup detected!!"

"Evasive maneuvers!" Fenris shouted. The battleship was jerked hard to the side as the massive shot from a Hypervelocity Cannon passed through the area the battleship once occupied. The battleship below them, two destroyers, and a frigate wasn't as lucky, as the cannon shot punched a hole through their hulls, causing a massive chain-reaction that destroyed all impacted ships. Other shots also found their mark, and at least 3 other destroyers were destroyed. (OOC: lol, pun)

"Report!" Fenris shouted

"Sir! The blast has been avoided."

The Admiral breathed a sigh of relief. "All remaining ships, form up with the Imglots!"

And the order was made so.

One Doombringer evaporated off to Rakno's starboard, and he saw a Plague and another Doombringer simply disappear before the onslaught of the massive battleship. He prepared the order for retreat, but was stayed by the Angenterians' movements. Were they really going to stand and fight?

"Admiral!" Admiral Cooper's voice screamed in Rakno's ear. "Now would be the time to retreat!"

"It would be... but what would that do?" Rakno lectured the much more junior commander. "If we retreat now, we return to Tigeria, less the majority of our ships, we will face rebuke. Never again will either of our fleets be allowed to leave the system. Any fleet. In addition, we lose our alliance with Angenteria."

"... Are you insane?" Cooper said, but he was much more subdued this time. "We can't hope to stand against that thing."

"But if these enemies have any honor, they may allow a parley; and if we fight until the bitter end, mercy may be won for our determination."

"Or," Cooper rebutted quickly, "They might be the types to simply obliterate all who resist. Are you willing to risk it, Rakno?"

"I am that." The aged admiral sighed. "Perhaps we might be able to cause some damage. The 1st Home Defense Fleet is all but dead. If we fail, take the 4th and leave. We will return to this spot if we fail, and we will bring the Apocalypse (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=576923) when we come (OOC: Link). Weapons," he added to the weps officer, "I want you to select a target location on that ship -- any target. Use the integrated engagement system to notify all other ships. We will fire everything we have at that spot."

"Angenterian Fleet," he sent to the named party, "We will engage the enemy flagship. We would appreciate your continuing to keep the smaller -- even if only by comparison -- enemy ships occupied." Another Doombringer exploded. "All Imglot forces, prepare to fire." The bridge display lit up as affirmative signals were returned from the fleet ships. Coordinates and ranges flashed across the screen. "Fire on my mark. 3... 2..."

How vast space was. "FOR THE GREAT LORD!" Rakno shouted. "MARK!"

Thousands of nuclear Despair missiles streamed towards the enemy hulk, quickly passed in their travel by a dozen glowing Polonium rounds and the nuclear fusion warheads of the 1st Fleet's Ragnaroks traveling at half of the speed of light. This would likely be shrugged off by the enemy ship, but it was worth a shot.

As the Angenterian fleet moved into position, Admiral Fenris contemplated the tactical situation. The Angenterian fleet was starting to feel the weight of their losses. Furthermore, the overall situation had seemed to turn against them. Only a minute ago, they had a viable advanage they could have used to press their attack. But the arrival of those massive battleships seemed to have changed everything. And those damned Hypervelocity Cannons!

But the battle was not over yet. They still had ships left, and the Imglots had just gotten some reinforcements. There was still a chance at a victory, if only a small one.

"Admiral" an officer reported "Incoming transmission."

Angenterian Fleet,
We will engage the enemy flagship. We would appreciate your continuing to keep the smaller -- even if only by comparison -- enemy ships occupied.

"So, the Imglots are still intent on resisting." The Admiral commented, somewhat relieved at the prospect. They had sustained heavy damage from the enemy fleet, moreso then the Angenterians, and Admiral Fenris had considered the possibility of them retreating. At least that wouldn't happen. Not yet.

"You heard the Imglot!" Fenris shouted (http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/starwars/images/8/8f/Imp_Captain_SWGTCG.jpg), the charismatic fire once again appearing to his voice. "Helm! Bring us about! Target the smaller enemy ships! Cruisers, frigates, fighters! I want them in pieces! Imperial ships, wedge formation on the Justice! Take them by surprise!"

As his orders were were relayed, and the ships lumbered into position, he muttered a quick prayer to the Emperor, asking for the strength to see this battle through.

"Full speed ahead!" He shouted. "All ships, fire at will!"

And it was so. The Angenterians opened fire once more, their guns targeting the smaller vessels in the enemy fleet.

Fighters, agile as ever, still took hits, but weaved through enemy formations, dropping their sparse amount of heavy weaponry on enemys and strafeing the ships with plasma fire. Bombers were less fortunate, but some stil managed. Frigates took more hits, but were designed to change positon rapidly to make the enemy feel the bite of their weapons, but the crunching of hull was still felt as any in the Cruisers, who still managed to shrug off about as much fire with their better shields and hulls. The two battleships pounded the enemy with Plasma Cannon fire, and one Dirge that had joined Harkaan also wielded a Hypervelocity cannon, shaking the foundation of whatever enemy ship it had aimed its main weapon at.

A Dirge that had come in aide of the Rhine Flagship was broken apart by enemy fire. As the remained salvo of heavy enemy fire smashed into the flagships shields, a cloud of blue fire danced around the targeted area of the Battlecruiser. Battlemarch, unfazed, unfurled its hangers from behind their energy screens, and behind their massive shield. Hellknight Bombers and Starweaver Fighters, along with other varients danced out to engage enemy ships, the Starweavers danceing to and fro, lightest and fastest of all ships, its movements ghostly as Plasma Repeaters fanned around to bite enemies.

Shields down to 63%. Point Defense count: 1467 Missiles. Error in number count. Unknown amount of missile factor checked in defense wall. Calculating.

The cold voice rang out in the Battlecruisers fortress like bridge. "Reduce Plasma Fire. Bring us to bear in the meantime, and fire a salvo of Avatar Missiles at them."

While Dhirim and his remaining ships fell away with the other Battlegroups to congregate over to the Ship Master, their fleet depleted from where it was of the last, Harkaans fleet fired barrages of Plasma Cannon fire, Malice shells shuddered from Firebearer Cannons, Avatar Missiles sped on, and the Battlecruiser didn't even seem to be down to its second array of firepower.

"I wonder if they'll retreat?" Harkaan whispered to himself, looking on with his shoulders squared at the carnage before him, the main screen showing a detailed overview of the battle. "Or do they intend to fight on until they or we are all dead?" Harkaan scratched his neatly trimmed black beard. "Bring Commander Dhirim up on the main screen."

The large holographic panel before him shifted and a slightly battered Commander Dhirim appeared before Harkaan and half of the bridge behind him. "Sir." Commander Dhirim said shortly, wipeing away a bit of blood on the edge of his mouth, a Devicer repairing a sparking panel overhead. Harkaan frowned. "You took a battering, didn't you Ward?" Dhirim shook his head closeing his eyes for a moment. "Took your time." The Ship Master almost grinned, but shrugged it off. "Fall in commander. Will see what these people do next...hopefully just leave now while they can."

Rakno watched disbelievingly as the shield of the massive ship flickered, barely registering the massive amount of ordinance. "Enemy ship analysis?" he asked breathlessly.

"Our sensors indicate approximately 60% shield integrity in the targeted area. Enemy must have multiple batteries, because integrity elsewhere remains at or around 90%."

The Admiral fell into his chair, his hands shaking. They couldn't hope to stand against this. "Broadcast message to all friendly IFFs. We will retreat. Hopefully the Angenterians will follow suit." He paused, before giving the command to broadcast on all frequencies.

"Now hear this, Pact Rhine. Your actions were folly; for assaulting our allies, the Angeterian Fleet, with no provocation or warning, we will have revenge. I give you this warning now: We will return -- and I will be at the helm of our forces. This planet will be ours and the Angeterians, you fools, for we will grant them rights to the resources here for their assistance in defending the system against the attempted pirates. Enjoy what material you can gather now; the Apocalypse will be upon you soon." As he finished, the enemy's missile barrage arrived, battering the fleet but luckily destroying no ships as the xaser batteries did their job and cleared away many of the missiles.

"Now," Rakno finished. "Take us out of here." With a roar, the space in front of the 1st Fleet tore open and they departed, the 5th Fleet following the example a moment later.


Will you be cool with me coming back for a massive fleet engagement, TUF? If so, it'll be in a week or so. If not, I understand.

The Hypervelocity guns hammered the Angenterian Fleet after the Imglotian Fleet had departed. The Battlecruiser had its weapons to bear, and the Plasma Cannons, Flamebearers, Avatar missiles, hundreds of arrays, hundreds of batteries, thousands of cannons pounded and hammered the Angenterian Fleet as a follow up. The Battlecruiser brought to bear, almost nothing would escape the huge barrage.

"Bring your ships Imglot." The space infront of the Ship was like a small sun, blue light mixed up into clouds by the Avatar Missiles, flickering blue seemingly building the cloud up as thousands of Cannons acted as a wave of troops that could not be stopped. After a few minutes, the attack was nolonger needed, as the Fleet would have surely either been destroyed, or had retreated into whatever alterspace they use to pocket their fleet away from the awesome firepower they possessed.

"This is Ship Master Harkaan, High Admiral Rhine. Bring in my Fleet, and comence the defense wall." Closed Transmission tranfered.

The Battlecruiser jumped, appearing over the planet, a perfect position to engage any one of its weapons, wherever on ship. The rest of the fleet did the same, prepared to fight off any assault until the Fleet arrived.

OOC:

Thats fine. Standard affair defense then I suppose. Your besiegeing the planet, and I'm defending it? Then I'll have a Battlestation orbiting the planet, a Fleet, though that'll have to be measured by how many ships you bring, cause I like a balance of forces, and a planetary shield, some outter defenses, and then pickets in the system. And...the Battlecruiser of course. All 33 Kilometres of it. 13 more then yours. :P Hah. Kidding.

Bring it up whenever.

Measuring in at somewhere over 20 kilometers in length (the Ministry of Defense was vague on its size)


Right... it's only 20... <_< >_>

Sure, let your people believe that. I'm STILL working on its specs.

Eh. As far as I'm concerned, 'we' don't even know you have a big ol' ship in construction, and of course plan on 1-UPing me on size just to make you feel better. instead of 20, make it 34!!! Heh. Eh? Oh yes. But it won't come as a big surprise. If theres one thing everyone knows, even incharacterly, its that everyone has a big 'supership' somewhere, if just for the sake of intimidation.

Also, I think I'tll be hilarious using tons of materials and fuel from the planet BUILDING the defense to take the planet, because of the tons of materials and fuel. That would have to be the most Ironic thing i could display, without being OOC. In fact, I hope you have a character of your mention how ironic that is just to make me feel better about having to fight you. :P

OH GOD THE SHIPS.

No, that wasn't my plan. It's gonna be around 26 (that's what I was thinking when I first wrote that article). And when I do the thread... well, you'll see in a few days.

And, btw, look at the bottom.

http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=576923

I had a guy spreading this news throughout the galaxy, and now our cover's blown... if your character can put the pieces of the puzzle together. Remember that all you have is a mention of the word "Apocalypse" by Rakno and this article.

But what I DO need to do is add some ships to my roster, because 4 types of warship ain't gonna cut it. Looks like I'm digging through the EVE Online reference sites (the source of the Apocalypse, as I'm sure you're aware).

Yeah I saw the monster. Twenty Ragnarok's you say? Could be more you say?...well come to think of it, that thing IS a monster.

Admiral Fenris couldn't believe his eyes as he watched the Imglot weapons do nothing more then scratch the shield defenses of the enemy ship. If the Imglot's heaviest weapons couldn't begin to damage it, then what chance did the Angenterians have?

"Sir!" The comms officer reported. "The Imglot fleet is retreating."

Fenris sighed. He knew the Angenterians couldn't handle them alone, with their current strength. As Hypervelocity cannons ripped through a few more ships, Fenris decided it was time to pull the plug.

"The enemy was a lot stronger then we had anticipated." He began. "Sound the retreat. We will re-consolidate our forces and strike when we are stronger."

"Yes, admiral."

With that, the remains of the Angenterian fleet escaped back into the Warp, hungry for revenge.

(OOC: When the big fleet battle comes, I want in.)