NationStates Jolt Archive

Sector Delta Border - Anagonian Delta Quadrant on the Galactic Rim

The forefathers of the Galactic Federation had foreseen every conceivable dilemma that Anagonia could possibly encounter in its existence among the stars. From wars with foreign powers to civil strife within its populace, nothing was overlooked. Era's of history passed, all with some sort of situation that called upon the military to act and evolve for the better defense of the citizen populace. Expansion was common in those days. Worlds found and negotiations quick for membership into the various governments that existed through the ages. Eventually every civilization reaches a point in which these situations either cause the nation to collapse or become lax in the duties of defense and be easily conquered. Somehow Anagonia had found a middle ground.

During the era of the Galactic Republic and after the terrible events of the Galactic Empire era, Military commanders convened and separated Anagonia into several quadrants to better defend and supply the planets under its control. These were the times of battling the dwindling threat of the Imperial Remnant, leftovers of the hunters and killers that had exiled Anagonians from their original home of Nova Kretani. Logistics and techniques for war were advanced to an unprecedented level along with the technology for ship design and construction. Strategy came to the fore as battles were more common and a civil war divided Anagonia in two. In the end all of these obstacles were overcome, ending the three-thousand two hundred and forty two years that the Galactic Republic reigned in government.

The Galactic Federation was quick to take the place of the passing of the previous era, bringing with it an unforeseen time of peace and prosperity. It could be said that for the span of the Galactic Republic, Anagonia was at peace. No foreign aggression had truly taken place. The only enemy the remnant of a genocidal ambition incarnate. Every issue that had been formed was for the lack of better definition internal in nature. Yet the Military always had a place at the fore of every engagement and operation that took place. The atmosphere was always tense and ready to split open with blood lust and rage. Everyone was always on stand-by for the second coming of the Galactic Empire. When it never came, when nothing every happened, the populace and military breathed a sigh of relief with the arrival of the Federation Era. In this, every advancement achieved in previous times was turned to a more peaceful use.

Thus did the quadrants expand and encompass more planets and sectors, among which were mineral rich regions that supplied the core worlds with vital resources. The Grand Army, previously attached to strict ground forces and planetary engagements, rose to power and gained a star fleet of its own. Through this, they gained control of protecting and engaging in merchant trade for the Federation Frontier. It soon became a common sight to see Grand Army warships resupplying worlds on the far reaches of Anagonian territory and carrying civilians to newly colonized worlds. True peace, not a false peace of internal strife and turmoil, had been achieved finally. No threat was seen or detected. It had seemed that the entire Galactic Community ignored one of the greatest super powers in the Galactic Quadrant. The military evolved from a true fighting force to one of multiple duties, among which was mercantile and exploration.

The Anagonian Delta quadrant was among the quadrants that was so vital to maintaining the Galactic Federation and her internal core worlds. The military simply couldn't provide the populace with the needed food stuffs and resources gathered from here. Being primarily on the Galactic Rim provided ample nebula's and star systems full of minerals and planets begging to be used. Delta Border was one specific sector within the Delta quadrant that was a prime example of frontier trade and resource gathering. The Grand Army wasn't as present here as it was in adjacent sectors, though the resident Starbase did keep a keen eye on traffic and pirate activity. One important planet, the main hub for mineral and merchant trade, shown just how lax the Military had become in protecting its assets.

Juno Delta resided in a star system with only three other planets, all gas giants. A dense asteroid belt circled close to the sun leaving the three-mooned Juno Delta with a beautiful night-time view of the heavens. On the planet over two million frontier colonists made this star system their home working in factories and mining facilities. One of the moons, Juno III, housed over twenty-thousand colonists that worked on farms and food production facilities. In orbit various satellites both kept a keen eye on the system and monitored the planet in general. Defense installations were few and far between, surveillance key to avoiding a major fight so far out in the Frontier. An orbital drydock had been constructed to house two Venator-class starships that were assigned to patrolling the entire Delta Border Sector. Currently only one was docked.

Starbase Juno was constructed around one of the Gas Giants in the solar system. Defending primarily Juno Delta and the Delta Border Sector as a whole. Only a small garrison of Acclamator-I and II class starships ever made way this far out to the starbase besides a few Venator's that occasionally wandered through. On the rare occasion a fleet happened through the starbase was thankfully outfitted to accommodate the extra work load. Docked at the starbase currently was one of those rare occasions. The CVA-25 Liberator (http://hawk.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=gfmc&action=display&thread=96&page=1#407) was on the last leg of its shakedown cruise and would eventually be stationed in this sector, currently docked and undergoing some much needed refits.

On board the station High General Gary Morin was working in his personal office. The Starbase was constructed in the typical fashion, executive and command facilities at the top with each level going down housing lesser and lesser important facilities. Gary's quarters and office were at the very top, near the bridge and heart of the station. Gazing at his holographic screen he rubbed the side of his face with a aged hand. He had been going over reports for a recent pirate attack two sectors away for a few days now, already having the authority to send and retrieve ships for his sectors defense should he choose. The dilemma on his mind was whether to take valuable ship assets needed in other sectors to temporarily bolster the defense of another. Sighing, he pressed the holographic screen with two fingers bringing up the planetary resource screen. There was no threat of pirates currently so he supposed he'd get to work calculating transport runs for Juno Delta.

OOC:

This is a closed invite only role play between Red Talon and myself. Please respect the rules of the thread and contact Red Talon if you seek admittance into this engagement. Thank you.

On the edge of the system, a single heavy freighter dropped out of a wormhole, it was approximately 750 meters long. It bore the markings of the Red Talons Mercenary Republic. The heavy freighter drifted lazily towords the station, sending its greeting hail. The freighter identified itself as 'Antiquated Dreams'. A rather odd name for a freighter, but history was littered with examples of stranger ones. The ship continued on its course, its only apparent armament were a few clusters of point defense guns, which were offline, and as the freighter got closer, a better look would reveal that most of them were in need of repair, the freighter as a whole looked like it was hundreds of years old, and it probably was. The nature of the Talons was nomadic, they ate drank slept and worked aboard their ships for their entire lives. Most non-com ships like the 'Antiquated Dreams' were generational ships, being passed down from father to son. As the freighter entered its final approach, scans of teh ship would reveal that it indeed had cargo, though the ship itself seemed to be emanating a little more power than a freighter would need, it could probably be chalked off as special cargo enviornments. The ships head signature was afterall rather dull. The engines and bridge about the only places showing any heat.

As the freighter came into dock, everything seemed normal. Its listed cargo was food and cryo frozen livestock, the captain claiming to be working privately, was offering to sell any goods he could for reasonable, even slightly cheap prices. When the ship came to a rest at its berth, thats when things started to go wrong. Magnetic sensors would shriek as 13 ships manifested in a blinding blue-purple flash. A single Cerberus class dreadnought, escorted by four Destiny class battleships, two Wolf class missile cruisers, and half a dozen Kergerin class heavy cruisers.

At the same instant, the freighter twisted on its axis, listing to point one side up at the ceiling. The cargo hatches of the heavy freighter burst and large pods launched out point blank at the hangar's ceiling before it fired retro's to swiftly twist the other way and fire another volly of pods almost point blank into another section of ceiling. The freighters point defense guns sparking to life and targeting any apparent defensive systems nearby. At the same time an FTLi field would raise over the station, ECM becoming apparent as com channels became loud shrieking static. The pods,traveling the few meters, would quickly impact the stations hull and immediately begin to burrow into the structure. plasma assisted boring heads chewing through the metal like a hungry worm. The short pods rapidly sinking completely into the stations hull, settling so their sides blocked passageways. Doors sliding open to reveal armor clad soldiers carrying heavy rifles. Some were equipped with what looked like a flamer. There were 22 pods from the freighter, Ten marines per pod, and more began to flow from the cargo bay in the freighter and into the holes in the stations hull, the marines suited in medium power armor equipped with small induction coils that allowed them EVA capabilities.

In the meantime, The small fleet had manifested itself in high orbit over the planet. The Cerberus class angling its bow on the drydock, the six barrels on its bow flashing in succession as its deck guns opened up, focusing as much fire as possible on the drydock and its single occupant. Meanwhile, the two Wolf cruisers deployed a volley of multikill torpedoes. The torpedoes bursting into tens of thousands of micro missiles that streaked out in different directions hungrily seeking satellites around the planet and its nearby moon. The Kergerin class cruisers meanwhile, turned their attention to the planet itself, beginning orbital bombardment of what appeared to be the largest population centers. Using their spinal mount linear siege cannons.

Starbase Juno

It was the normal routine. An unknown freighter appearing in one of the border sectors of the Federation, welcomed and cataloged for trade. More money for the masses plenty would believe. Considering that most warships currently patrolling the quadrant were few and far between, there was no escort for the non-com ship this time around. Gary Morin had been notified of the new contact and informed System Command to allow entry considering the peaceful nature of the craft. Scans had already shown it was a typical armed civilian freighter, the cargo verified by low-intensity scans and nothing more said about it. Gary was more concentrated on his new task at hand. The time between the freighter appearing and reaching the point of entering Juno's main hanger bay had flown by so productively that the High General had nothing left to do but ensure the CVA-25 Liberator finished all it's refits on schedule.

He was just about to stand and stretch when his quarters went red with the danger klaxon. Battlestations had been declared! Suddenly he found himself being rocked off his feet by what felt like four massive jolts to the station. He slammed his head on the table, falling back against the wall and passing out. Blood trickled down his forehead signaling a bad injury. He never had time to figure out just what went wrong.

Command Bridge

Everyone seemed in a panic for the first few seconds. The moment the station detected hostile activity from inside itself it sent a distress signal through the Quadrant Network. The sub-space relay's would pick up the basic distress call, signaling an attack and possibly invasion on the station. It was lucky the computer did it's job. Seconds later all communications went down. Many of the Officers knew exactly what was going on, preferring to arm themselves now and don the battle armor famous in the Grand Army. Choosing either grade of Grand Army Standard Personal Armor (http://hawk.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=gfmc&action=display&thread=93&page=1#384), many of the command crew made way to personally alert soldiers whom had already assembled across the station. Lt. Commander David Rice was among them, donning the Katarn-Class Commando Armor and jolting down the corridors passing many a squad along the way.

David knew they had been caught with their pants down. It was a true insult, one which would never be repeated after this entire ordeal was over. The only problem now was figuring out how to prevent this situation from getting from worse to downright apocalyptic. David met up with a few of his colleagues, signaling for a line of Troopers to head down an adjacent corridor and make sure it was secure. They had no way to communicate due to the jamming, so the first priority was to figure out the source and eliminate it. Before they could manage that they would have to repel whatever was heading their way. David checked his DC-17m Interchangeable Weapon System, making sure it was on "Blaster Rifle" before he continued. He wouldn't doubt that already there were wounded or dead somewhere in the station.

CVA-25 Liberator - Docked outside the station

Rear Admiral San'Ti was busy on the bridge of the Liberator going over the refitting schedule with his command crew. For the next four weeks the routine would be updating the fusion core per the specifications gathered by the shakedown cruise thus far. After that, weapons systems would be brought in sync with the rest of the power systems and ships computer so that they didn't have to rely entirely on manual input. Thankfully every ship sent on shakedown cruise was supplied with a fresh compliment of crew. The downside to this was that despite the full compliment nearly all were fresh from the academy and learning on the job. The Drekamythian (http://hawk.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=gfmc&action=display&thread=97&page=1#401) sighed heavily. While he lusted for the thrill of command elsewhere, he did find himself lowering his standards to teaching these youngsters a thing or two about military experience.

He leaned forward over the central display at the center of the bridge. It was an average height table, the top a screen display of a virtual map from he ships sensors. Above it was a circular mount which bolstered a line of smaller screens which could display any type of data for the entire bridge to view. Currently on the table-top display he observed the Liberator's specifications and drydock conditions, seeing everything was in order and checking out specific sub-systems himself. He stopped as the ship detected an anomaly. Investigating, his red reptilian eye's squinted as he tapped button after button on the display. It was about the time he found the source, which was within Starbase Juno, that the ships rocked.

It wasn't as violent as would have been experienced on the Juno, but it woke many people up from a doze on the bridge. Everyone went into action, San'Ti going into command mode as he called out for a status report. The response came from his Commander, Mia Hartman. She rushed down the second floor of the bridge, located in just behind San'Ti. He turned to look at her.

"We've picked up a general distress signal following the tremors," Mia said as she avoided a bridge officer whom passed too close to her. "It's quite possible the stations under attack." San'Ti nodded, about to turn back to the display when a bridge officer blurted out "All communication channels have been jammed, Admiral!" The Drekamythian cursed his luck in his native tongue, roaring out "Get this ship out of drydock now!"

For a brief second, everyone froze. Commander Hartman gazed at San'Ti as if he were crazy. San noticed her confusion and wanted to give a proper explanation. He knew that over a hundred of the crew was on that station, knew they needed them for the manual controls of the ship and the fighter contingent. He also knew they could go on without them. The most important thing for him to do was to get the Liberator out of harms way, and he hissed at Mia to emphasize his point. "Now," he commanded in a gentler tone, "Or we might just all die."

No one knew if there was an attack on the station, but they had been given an order by an Admiral. Neither Mia nor any officer dared object, bridge officers calling out systems check and readiness. San'Ti acknowledged them all, gazing at the overhead displays and cursing again as he realized that the sensors were being jammed too. For all he knew they could be leaving drydock into a fleet of enemy warships. As if to add icing to the cake, San turned forward towards the front of the bridge where the panels shown outside space. There he caught a beautiful glimpse of Juno Delta...and several flashes of what seemed to be a fleet of ships.

Grand Army Drydock - In orbit around Juno Delta - Grand Army Venator Excellence

Captain Romeo Stalin had just returned from his mid-day meal when the news that the station had sent a general distress signal reached him in his quarters. Seconds later as he was heading for the command bridge he felt the ship rock multiple times from what seemed like enemy fire. He cursed his luck, taking minutes to reach the bridge and fully assessing the situation. Thankfully the ships shields were online before the bombardment had begun. The Excellence was mostly protected by the drydock which was falling to pieces around them. His Commander, a Droidekan by the name of Inati, had already given the orders to make way from the drydock and ready battlestations. He was glad Droidekan's never played around with any situation. By the time he reached the long platform of the command bridge, Inati stood by his side and updated him on the situation.

"Thirteen ships lead by one super-capital ship," Inati spoke as he gazed out the bridge panels. "It is impossible for the Excellence to withstand that amount of firepower for too long, sir."

Romeo nodded, staring into space. It was then he noticed that the smaller enemy vessels were unleashing a deadly volley on the planet below. Already, as the Excellence moved from the ever decreasing protection of drydock, he could tell the devastation on the surface was immense. Inside he felt a pit of rage, grabbing the PAD that Inaki handed to him and quickly reviewing it. They were just inside a field of FTLi, but communications were still up. However communications with the starbase were out, signaling a multi-prod attack. He quickly handed the PAD back to Commander Inaki, the B1 Droidekan. "Send out a Quadrant wide alert," Romeo ordered. "Inform Fleet Command that sector Delta Border is under invasion and we need reinforcements."

Captain Stalin watched as the Droidekan moved off to quickly accomplish the order. He placed his hands behind his back, breathing in deep. "Ready all turbolasers and torpedo tubes. Launch all fighters and bombers," Romeo ordered loudly, "All engines to maximum power. Were in for one helluva fight!"

The Venator-class Star Destroyer had just made it out from the drydock as it crumbled and exploded in pieces. The explosion didn't do much to harm the Venator, shields and the fact that only one fusion core detonated ensured a safe exit. The real test came when the Venator's Turbolaser batteries came online, automatically targeting the Dreadnought and opening fire. Already as the hanger bay's opened squadrons of BTL Y-Wing and ARC-170 Starfighters flew out in an attempt to make headway and attack the other ships. It was a one-ship suicide defense mission that possibly had a chance.

Planet Juno Delta

On the surface there was three main population centers that served as the trade hub for the planet. Each one was facing the cruisers currently. Each one suddenly burst into flames and explosions in the blink of an eye. Instantly over a million people died, followed by countless others injured or hurt. The entire planet began to panic, sending out distress signals, and basically running around in circles. There was no where to hide, no defenses next to the satellites. All those were being destroyed like shooting fish in a barrel by the missiles from the Wolf-class cruisers! There seemed to be no hope of resistance, the planets fate resting on the shoulders of the lone Venator and possibly the Carrier that now attempted to escape the Starbase.

Strike fleet-

Aboard the dreadnought, its captain stood formly, a reptilian, he sneered at the sight of the venator scooting out of the drydock just in time. "focus all fire on the venator, i want two heavy cruisers to continue bombardment, the rest target that star destroyer." The tactical officer gave an affirmative and the ship continued to rumble as its barrage shifted to follow the star destroyer. Joined by the fire of four of the heavy cruisers, their linear siege cannons taking a moment to reload before firing again, this time aimed for the Venator's spire. The cerberus' six siege cannons lazily firing one after the other, keeping up a steady stream.

Starbase Juno-

The marines already new their objectives. The 220 marines fanning out in teams of 10. moving down the halls, atleast one in each team piercing the walls and ceiling here and there with his vibro blade to help bleed out teh atmosphere. Other teams using their blades to cut their way higher in the levels. others breaching walls and doors to continue to fan out. Anyone they encountered was mercilessly mowed down with a burst from the marines wrist mounted flachette gun. The marines were clad in black power armor, bearing red tribal markings of varying designs. of each team of ten, one carried a plasma flamer, the other carried a shoulder mounted 20mm plasma gattling.

They had two objectives, first was to secure the command deck, and second was to terminate all personnel on the station. They would carry out the second objective with little mercy. As the first teams reached turbo-lifts, they encountered their first taste of the stations defenses. The marines were proceeding via built in antigrav generators. Sergeant Wilson was following right behind one of his subordinates, As the marine rounded the corner the man was knocked back by a bright red bolt, followed by another, the marine dove back behind the corner, a fist sized hole burned in his armor, red-black blood bubbling out for a second before it clotted, effectively sealing the hole and containing the precious air inside the suit. Wilson growled. "That turbo-lift takes us straight up to the command deck, private, wheres the turret?" he asked the wounded marine who was growling softly. "its on the ceiling..." He bit down on a blue colored sensor in his suits armor, releasing painkillers to deaden the pain of his chest.

Wilson popped around the corner, his wrist gun up he took aim and fired as a blaster bolt wizzed by his helmet. "clear, move out!" he called, signaling to the rest of his men. four teams cut their way into the turbolift passage, one of the heavy marines, armed with a shoulder mounted plasma gattling fired a good spray up and down, pulling back as half of a turbolift went careening down the tube. The teams moved into the shaft and proceeded up as far as they could go. When they reached the top two marines bearing plasma flamers took either side of the doors, their motion sensors showing activity on the other side. "i hope this is the command deck" Wilson muttered. The two marines forcing powered armor claws through teh crack, pulling the door open enough for the barrels of their flamers to poke through, unleashing twin streams of plasma gel into the room, forcing the door the rest of the way as the marines spread out, firing liberally at anything that wasnt one of them. All the while the area was venting atmosphere from the teams liberal use of brute force to advance.

Meanwhile, the rest of the marines worked on sealing off the central spire, blasting turbolifts apart and opening as much of the area as possible to vacuum. The teams moving as if in zero gravity, if one of their comrades fell, they were picked up and used as a macabre shield against further incoming fire. The marines having no qualms about closing to melee range and tearing soldiers apart with their bare hands.

Wilson finished mowing down the room, mentally selecting something from an implant he had aquired some time ago. Music began to blast in his ears as he grinned and waved his team to move on. Taking a moment to review a map general map of the station. He waved to one of teh marines to get to a computer terminal. There was one on the wall.

one of the marines, a woman by the name of Cassandra moved to the terminal, slipping a slicer pack into its access port as she began to hack it with the assistance of an engineered computer virus. The virus was designed to sneak its way into the systems door controls and open every possible door in the station and lock them that way, either by burning out the motors or simply holding them open. Elsewhere on the station, other marines were in various stages of doing the same thing. letting the virus run amok while they searched for a blueprint of the station.

Grand Army Venator Excellence

It seemed the enemy didn't care for the fighters. This was their mistake, of course. The Y-wings began bombing runs along the Dreadnoughts long frame, aiming for what was to be considered the bridge. The ARC fighters began launching decoys against point defense. Hopefully they would provide enough ample distraction to allow the Excellence time to form an escape plan.

Captain Romeo Stalin blessed his luck. Inaki came back with a confirmed transmission being sent. Hopefully by the time the Venator managed to get out of this situation reinforcements would arrive. The problem was getting out in one piece. It would be a bit of tactical play for Romeo to manage this one, his ship now being rocked by the heavy bombardment of siege cannons. The shield was draining considerably fast, already the Excellence having a few decks breached. He made a split second decision based on the logistical analysis of the situation.

"Commander, bring her planet side." The Droidekian turned its elongated head towards Romeo, nodding then. "Aye sir."

In space the Venator began to turn on its axis, all engines going at full power. The turbolaser batteries continued to spout their deadly armaments, whilst torpedo tubes unloaded proton torpedoes at the enemy cruisers. Fighters and bombers continued to launch from the bays on other other side of the Venator, ensuring that one wasn't struck by dumbly exposing it to enemy fire. They would form up and commence bombing runs with proton and fusion warheads as soon as they were in range. The bridge rocked as the main spire was hit by a particle blast exposing three decks to space. Tiny specs of figures flew out with the flames, showing a telltale sign of a direct hit. The Excellence didn't slow in any manner however, simply descending at a rapid pace towards the planet beneath.


CVA-25 Liberator

Rear Admiral San'Ti had his head tilted downward, gazing intently at the battle taking place before him. He stood just before the consoles stationed behind the bridge panels. The holographic screens were online, magnification enabled as he watched the battle unfold between the lone Venator and the other enemy ships. They had managed to launch fighters, which was a good sign that the ship didn't get caught with its pants down. He had noted, however, that the planet looked like a wasteland from here. Already this was turning out like some kind of genocide. Like the return of the Galactic Empire. He shook his head from that thought. Those bastards were long gone, these new ones were something else.

On the holographic screen was also displayed the status of the Mark-I Secondary Particle Cannons. Two were already fully charged, the other two slowly draining whatever power was allocated manual from the fusion cores. He noted with disdain that the two Mark-I Primary Ion Cannons were charged but well out of range. The Yorktown Class Attack Carrier was implemented with these heavy weapons systems for ship-on-ship combat. The Ion Cannons were designed for close range destruction, while the particle cannons were constructed for long range tactical support. The particle cannons could be fired from this range, but they wouldn't cause much damage. So he had to play the waiting game and hope to the divines that the Venator somehow survived.

The Liberator continued on its course towards the enemy fleet closing range at a quick pace. The crew had been reorganized quickly thanks to the training that the deck commanders. Engines were giving their best and the reactors already had charged most of the weapons systems. They had limited fighter and bomber capability and would eventually make use of it. But not yet, not now. It seemed they were still in the dark to the enemy and San'Ti wasn't about to give up the element of surprise. This was a warriors greatest asset, in truth. Used correctly he could inflict heavy damage without even lifting a finger. Metaphorically, of course.

He looked towards one of the consoles on the far wall, opposite of the second deck level that housed the flight commander station. The distance between the station and the Liberator was being calculated by primitive pulses since most of the sensor equipment had been jammed. They were far enough now that if the station was to explode, Mother Dragon forbid, that the Liberator would only suffer superficial damage. He grunted, gazing back towards the magnified view of the battle.

"Ready all bombers and fighters," he commanded. "I want them prepped and ready to launch on a moments notice."

Starbase Juno

Inside the giant hanger of the starbase the internal defenses had been confused due to the close proximity to the jamming from the ship. They had attempted to calibrate themselves automatically, but that had failed. It wasn't until a brave officer accessed a terminal near where the enemy boarding parties were rampaging about did the calculations become implanted in the internal defense network to correct themselves. Afterward, the officer was shot dead on the spot by a spray of plasma fire. The internal defenses however activated using internal pulse finders, pinging the freighter and calculating what needed to be done. Obviously they wouldn't be able to tell where the engines or weapons hard points was without active sensors, therefore they activated and began to fire at anything caught in the line of pinging.

This caused two problems. One, Anagonians were killed instantly by the activated Fusion Cannons. Two, the freighter contained a minovsky fusion core which upon detonation would consequently blow half the damn starbase up. Indeed this was something that should have been avoided. However computers using low-level technology in the place of highly advanced calculations and sensor equipment tended to be dumber than a Commodore 64. Once again history proved that machines hated anything organic, even the Droidekans within the station.

The chain of events that followed were both comical and damn right stupid. The internal fusion cannons fired without lock, going past the freighter and exploding through the shell of the saucer. Afterward, a second volly just unloaded and destroyed a section holding four hundred trapped survivors. They died instantly due to the explosion, the fusion cannons seeming not to care as they continued to ping and, finally, hitting their target. This is where things got damn right stupid. If the invading ships had realized not to park so close to their targets then the eventual outcome could have been easily avoided!

With the fusion beams impacting the rear and front of the freighter, a detonation of the freighters fusion core was almost instantaneous. It started slow at first, consuming everything in a fireball that seemed to suck in all the particles and remnants of floating bodies. Then it expanded violently. All this within a few micro-seconds, the shockwave expanding and rupturing the saucer of the Starbase. As the explosion continued to expand, it continued to rupture and destroy. Eventually it got to the back-up fusion generators, leading to a domino effect that started the continued explosion and detonation of more fusion cores. The computer kept trying to hold off critical tubes and ports that expanded the explosion, but someone dumb enough to implant a virus opening all ports for access threw away the last remaining hope that anyone on the station would make it out alive.

The end result was both dramatic and quite fascinating. In one instance, half of the upper saucer section of the Starbase exploded. The next instant, the entire station erupted in a deadly fireball that consumed the space around it. The Gas Giant seemed to wobble, clouds twirling and churning and combusting from the starbases detonation. The Liberator was thankfully well enough away to avoid the shockwave, which finished the job and shattered the entire station completely into thousands of tiny pieces.

Thus ended the lives and hopes of over five-thousand military officers and trainee's. Including, at a high price, every enemy boarding marine that thought they did everything just right. Unfortunately things do go wrong. This time, they just cluster-chucked out of control in a dramatic and deadly fashion.

Captain Rawlins stood at the bridge of his Cerberus class dreadnought Hells Teeth He growled as the tactical officer reported that the station had exploded, presumed all hands lost. He watched as the wave of incoming fire steadily approached. The point defense sliver guns opened up across the small fleet. The ships began pouring out controlled streams of rail-accelerated flachette, targeting incoming missiles and torpedoes. The point defense auto-comps designed to match heat corona's with silhouettes, targeting anything that wasn't friendly or was given a green tag from its connection with fire control, in this way keeping the guns from targeting their own missiles.

The sensors officer called out over the din of the weapons fire. "Sir, picking up another vessel coming in, vector three one one, its closing fast."

The captain nodded and drew his katana. "Bring her about, have the heavy cruisers cover our flank, begin spreading minovsky field. Have the missile cruisers alternate fire, i want the skies clear of hostile bogies, and i want that Venator out of my space." The ship rocked with the first pass of Y-wings. The ships 'bridge' was actually located in the rough center of the ship, the outcropping usually mistaken for the bridge being an observation deck for recreational purposes, and was thusly unoccupied. the rec room as well as the observation deck were destroyed.

The two missile cruisers began to launch multikill torpedoes sporaticly from their spinal racks, this time their bow launchers coming to life as they launched torpedo after torpedo in rapid succession, The heavy cruisers joining in with a volley of ten torpedoes each. The multikill warheads streaking out and bursting in steady 'waves' of agile micro missiles which streaked off towords whatever hostile target happened to be closest, the other torpedoes, fired from teh bow of the missile cruiser as well as the heavy cruisers would continue to accelerate and angle in towords the base of the Venator's spire. The Cerberus began to slowly yaw to the left, bringing its aft guns to bear on the venator, heavy cruisers slid swiftly around as the dreadnought turned. The point defense fire chewing through the bulk of incoming munitions, blaster bolts skimmed off the ships magnetic shields at some points, others it solidly impacted causing a ripple of energy and leaving scorch marks on the hull.

at the same time smaller missile tubes mounted like chaff launchers fired smaller rockets that streaked out in a starburst pattern from each ship, spreading what looked to be a glittering mist that seemed to spread out, the same mist beginning to emanate from the ships from vents mounted in various points on the hull. Sensor scans of the area began to become more and more distorted eventually showing only static as blaster bolts seemed to shrink as they passed through the field impacting with less and less force as the field quickly expanded. It was durring this that a stray blaster that seemed to actually change its trajectory as it entered the cloud as if it was being pushed away, clipped a torpedo as it slid out of one of the missile cruisers spinal tubes. missile detonating as its compliment of tiny antimatter warheads suffered a similar chain reaction to the station. The explosion warping the cruisers hull around the launch tube, and an instant later the cruiser was wracked by a massive explosion as one of its flat-space ammo storage batteries detonated into the ship. The frigate flew apart in a brilliant purple black pulse, a blue aura fading away afterwords as the minovsky particle field seemed to hesitate in its growth for a moment as the explosion faded.

"I field is forming successfully captai-" the tactical officer was cut off as the ship lurched. "Sir, we've lost one of the missile cruisers. That blast dropped our shields a good 30%." The captain growled. "all ships fire at will. I want every available gun on this beast firing at one of the two contacts."

As teh minovsky field spread, the Red Talon ships switched to gravitic sensors to maintain target lock through the EM static around them, The field was a blessing and a curse, long range energy weapons would have alot of difficulty accurately hitting anything, missile guidance systems would go haywire inside the field unless properly shielded, but at the same time they were half blind themselves. forced to rely on gravitic sensors and only half reliable visual lock.

The point defense guns continued to target small heat corona's and fire away at anything not headed away from the small fleet.

The Cerberus finally finishing its turn, its deck guns already sending dozens upon dozens of blue-white streaks out towards the incoming Liberator. The nose lining up with the enemy ships flight trajectory, the six linear siege cannons on its bow continuing their steady cycle once more.



((OOC: so you know what the thanatos cruise missiles, launched against the Venator, are designed to do.-- The warhead creates a gravitic sheer pulse in a roughly 20 meter wide area, cycling almost instantly between repulsion and attraction. the effect on an unshielded vessel would be the hull will dent in an instant before being pulled back, the inital impact can cause any atmosphere in the area to violently compress before a good chunk of armor is usually ripped off of the ship like a scab as the combined force of compressed atmosphere and gravitic attraction cayse the edges of the impact area, if not the impact area itself, to sheer and tear free. Sleep now. been up for almost 2 days straight x.x))

Grand Army Venator Excellence

Romeo Stalin picked himself up from the floor of the bridge. He had fallen from the walkway platform onto the lower level of the extension when a siege round had pierced the shield and impacted the side hull of the ship. Romeo knew where this would end, knew that the Venator would never have enough time to escape. Already he could see the panic in most of his officers eye's. The flight command bridge, adjacent to the command bridge, had been struck dead center with everyone on Romeo's side having a good view of their comrades being killed. It unnerved him too. He felt a metallic hand grip him, pulling him back on the platform. Commmander Inati tilting his head as he said firmly, "I suggest we abandon ship, Captain." Romeo couldn't help but agree more.

With approval given, the entire ship sounded off with evacuation Klaxons. There was presumably enough transports in the hanger bays, if they weren't hit, to bring everyone off the ship. If anything, escape pods would be launched with the remainder of the crew that stayed behind to ensure the majority made it safely away. In the end someone needed to stay behind to assist in the evacuation and operate the ship on emergency automatic. Romeo could tell that Inati would volunteer for this as the Droidekan was preparing the coding sequence in a nearby console. The Captain patting Inati on his metallic shoulder, gaining his attention. "I want you to make sure everyone get's off Commander." Romeo gave a smile, "As Captain, it's my life for my crew."

It took a few seconds for Inati to compute the significance of that statement. He could have easily rebelled against the command and taken out he Captain to ensure he lived another day. However his training and programming in the military refused to allow him to disobey the Captains request. Even as he battled with the moral issues therein he couldn't help but stand and nod. "Good luck," was the last thing Inati would say to Romeo. The Captain watched as the Droidekan wasted no time to head off the bridge, already as Romeo looked out from the bridge panels he could see LAAT's and the remaining contingent of starfighters and bombers lift off towards and away from the planet.

He took a few seconds to take the situation in. The Excellence rocked with another enemy solvo impacting somewhere along her hull. Obviously the shields were holding, however impossible it was at this point, and he could swear that the Venator refused to die easily. Somewhere in the back of his mind logic told him that a Star Destroyer shouldn't have lasted this long against a superior force. Maybe it was Anagonian modifications that enabled the Excellence to take a substantial beating. Maybe it was the ship herself. In either case as Romeo Stalin headed for the command console to assume full control of the ship, he was proud to have commanded her and her crew. Sitting in the chair provided for the console, he started over the controls and display.

Romeo noticed that the sensors were being scrambled by what was previously detected as M-particle surge. This could only mean that the enemy fleet was using a Minvosky Field. It would be bad news if the Excellence had tried to stay in the fight. Her equipment wasn't made for total manual control like the rest of the Fleet was. He also knew that the bombers and fighters within that field attacking the ships now were hopelessly on their own, not having any knowledge of the evacuation currently. His only respite was the fact that he had minimal ability to send one last communication to the evacuating ships, at the same time inputting the last command for the Excellence.

Quickly he drafted up the communication and sent it. It informed all star craft and transports to head planet side and away from the enemy fleet. Any ships capable of FTL travel were to hit hyperspace at the other side of the planet and go for reinforcements if they weren't already en route. All transports carrying crew were to avoid at all costs the bombardment capabilities of the enemy fleet. Lastly he put in place a direct order not to return for the Excellence. She wouldn't be around when they returned. He sent the message and to his satisfaction the computer registered it as sent. Once his commands were inputted after the message, he felt the Venator lurch and turn towards the enemy dreadnought.

Romeo had a good view of what happened next. One of the enemy cruisers exploded, in the background to the Gas Giant the remnants of the station highlighting the event. It hurt him deeply to see the Juno destroyed, but it satisfied him that one of the bastards went up in a spectacular display. He felt the Venator groan and protest, seeing the last remaining transports lift off. The skeleton crew left was to now take evacuation, the four of the eight DBY-827 Heavy Dual Turbolaser Turrets still maintaining fire towards the enemy. He noticed the fifty-two point-defense dual laser cannons start to take out incoming torpedoes and missiles. The remaining fighters and bombers attacking the enemy being destroyed. The Excellence suddenly rocked, violently, just as the remaining crew was leaving the ship.

The Venator continued onward, fusion drives going at full power and driving the Excellence towards the Cerberus Class Dreadnought. It would be obvious that the Venator was aiming to ram into the large ship, sacrificing herself to save the evacuating crew and hopefully cause a dent in the enemies bombardment capabilities. She started to twirl as a cruise missile of some kind managed to get past the point-defense, exploding off her bow in a spectacular explosion that caused her to lurch towards it and be pushed away. Romeo noted that blast drained the shields down to thirty percent, another one like that would surely collapse them. He took all power from the weapons and diverted it to the engines, the Excellence moving a bit faster towards her suicide mission. The shields maintained just to get her in there, just far enough.

Again the Excellence lurched, this time upward as an explosion tore open the fore flight deck. The transports carrying the remaining crew destroyed instantly to Romeo's regret, he being rocked around like a doll on the bridge as sparks flew everywhere. The ship groaned and protested as plates on her hull were flung off. He pressed the engines to critical, knowing it would result in a meltdown of the reactor core. His only object now was to ensure that the Excellence hit her mark and did as much damage as possible. The point-defense guns draining energy from the shields to maintain protection of the ship, destroying most of the missiles and torpedoes that seemed to come from no where. Still, they managed to impact.

The entire left "wing" of the Venator suddenly vanished in a third explosion, sending the Excellence in a spiral but continuing towards her objective. Flames quelled in open space, decks revealed and what seemed like oxygen and reactor fluid draining into space. Still the Venator trudged onward, her weapons no effectively silenced as the reactors weren't able to manage them anymore. Romeo braced himself against his seat, the Dreadnought in full view as the Excellence strained to hold together. Two more missile explosions forced the Venator to lurch in impossible ways. Her frame visibly bending and twisting, yet not breaking. Her engines, impossible as it was, still thrusting the ship. Romeo having hit his head against the console, his arm broken during the violent shake of the ship, spat out blood as he could taste the steel on the Dreadnought being so close.

"Damn you to hell," he said through smoke and flames on the bridge. The panels suddenly shattering and the air escaping into open space. Romeo held on to the panel. "Damn you to hell!" He proclaimed again, holding for whatever life was left as the bridge started to crumble to pieces around him. Just a little bit longer, he pleaded in his mind to the Excellence as she started to crumble around him. Just hold together a few more seconds and we'll be done here, Romeo thought as the air became thinner and he started to loose consciousness. He could swear he could make out markings on the enemy's hull as he gazed into open space, his body turning cold and his mind escaping him.

OOC:

Alright, I tried to implement that destruction in there. Also I'll wait to get back to the Liberator once this action is finished. That way were not concentrating on too much at once.

On the dreadnought, the sensors officer called across the bridge. "The Venator has begun to evacuate, second enemy vessel appears to be a mix of colonial and starfleet technology. Its still closing. Rangefinders are having trouble getting an accurate read." The captain grumbled. "Continue to fire."

On the Hydra, Its captain growled, gripping the railing. "Load a full volly of anti-capital warheads. Cover the Hells Teeth, I want all heavy cruisers to focus siege fire ob the aft section, match your fire on their secondary reactor, port side." The communications officer gave the affirmative that the order had been transmitted, The heavy cruisers forming up into a high wall formation, tracking the venator as it began its charge. The cruisers deck guns cycling fairly rapidly. The particle turrets along their hulls targeting enemy fighters, their ball turrets cycling on a frictionless tracking system.

As the Venator began its final charge, its light blasters pouring fire to clear its path, every now and then bolts connecting with the fire of the deck guns causing a bright flash, though the incoming bolt didnt seem to stop. Then the heavy cruisers took their shot, sheering through to the left wing secondary reactor. causing the left wing to disappear into millions of pieces, though its course persisted and slightly increased from the loss of weight.

On the bridge of the dreadnought, the sensors officer called out with a warning tone. "Sir, enemy Venator is closing at increasing speed, it just lost its port wing structure and its still coming, recommend evasive maneuvers!" The captain nodding, "All power to tactical drives," he paused a moment "All hands, prepare for rise!" The ships pilots reversing internal gravity, at the same time the ships induction coil spun up to full power, Their sensors were blinded for a moment as they began to accelerate up to avoid the incoming venator. "all available fire is to be directed on that Venator."

As the venator closed in, the dreadnought began to simply move up, its heat corona vanishing as its particle drives went compleatly offline. The venator closing in, spinning faster as its autopilot rather brilliantly put it into a ballistic spin, rolling the ship, this had the added effect of dispersing the onslought of fire the dreadnoughts Linear gattling drivers loosing their potency. The deck guts not able to target percise points simply aimed for the general center of the Venator. The dreadnought gently adjusted the magnetic fields to angle the nose up, As it achieved a 45 degree angle, showing its belly to the enemy Liberator. Its particle drives angled directly towords the incoming Venator connecting with the stern of the dreadnought, the top edge of the right wing twisting into the stern. Scraping across the top quarter of the Destroyer, Its bridge plowing into the main drive bank. as the shattered venator exploded, the Dreadnought focused power to its belly shields. The Venators core overloading in a brilliant explosion. The chunks flying apart and peppering the belly of the dreadnought with massive chunks of flying metal. The shields unable to compensate the dreadnought was buffeted for a few seconds, when it was over it lazily re-oriented itself to aim its bow at the incoming enemy ship, its belly emitting spouts of flame and atmosphere. weapons systems along its belly were flattened into the hull, still more area's had been breached and there were places where holes had been pierced in the hull.

CVA-25 Liberator

Rear Admiral San'Ti could feel his tail sliding to and fro behind him. He was deep in thought as he watched the Venator through the magnification. The scene played out like from some distant science fiction movie. The crew had noted by visual confirmation that previous to the ramming procedure evacuations had commence, a fact that eased San's mind a bit. It was entirely possible that there was no one left on board the Venator as it proceeded to move in an automated fashion. However, once it was struck a fatal blow on the wing and started twirling he knew that someone had inputted that maneuver and immediately thought of Romeo Stalin. The two had met three weeks prior on the drydock station sharing tactics. San'Ti closed his eye's as he saw the dreadnought lurch forty-five degrees and the Venator almost impact. He opened them to just see the remnants of a fatal fusion core meltdown and explosion.

His mind became instantly numb as the realization that the Liberator was the last defense for this system came down upon him. His eye's scanned the bridge, the entire crew concentrating on the magnified view in a gawking disbelief. Even the veterans whom trained most of these rookies on board didn't seem to believe what they just witnessed. His body still as his eye caught Mia Hartman as she regained composure, barking orders to the bridge crew as everyone returned to duty. He closed his eyes, opening them to gaze at the holographic display and snort heavily.

As the Liberator had closed some of the distance earlier, sensors had detected a rise in M-Particles from the fleet. It had disappated somewhat with the surprise destruction of one of the enemy cruisers. They couldn't tell from this distance if the Venator had struck home or if it was a fluke accident. In either case, it hadn't slowed that Star Destroyer down on its suicide run. It did, however, cause problems for the automatic targeting system for the particle and ion cannons. Manual override was the only real choice in this situation and no one on board had the experience needed to fire them except for himself. Communications would be dead entering the far reaches of the field, which the Liberator was just now touching. So if any friendly ships happened in they wouldn't be able to connect with them.

"What's the charge on the main and secondary weapons?"

Mia immediately reacted to San'Ti's question. She noted he had asked in a much lower tone than usual, feeling the same pain of loss for her brethren on the Venator as he did. She played along the flight commanders console using it to bring up another screen on an adjacent bridge panel right beside the main one. From there San could view the status of all weapons, including secondary and primary. She returned the console to the flight commander without a word, seeing him go back to work. "Status displayed on secondary panel, Admiral."

San nodded towards the report, gazing at the status display and finding to his satisfaction that all weapons systems were charged and ready. Almost like the two linked in thought, Mia ordered the flight commander to add a third screen showing the status of the ship itself. San merely nodded in thanks, seeing the reactors were fully functioning and eighty-five percent of the ship was active. They would have to wait for the other fifteen percent when they got back to drydock. If we get back, San'Ti thought suddenly. He cleared his mind, thinking instead that they would. They had to.

Sensors were becoming unreliable now. Already the magnification was fluttering. Now was the time to strike, if any. They had a perfect view of the enemy dreadnought and was in optimal range for the primary and secondary weapons systems. He made his way further down the bridge, relieving the tactical officer and sitting in his position. He pressed a button on the console opening a channel to the entire ship.

"Attention all hands, this is the Rear Admiral speaking. As many of you know the Delta Border sector has been engaged by hostile assets. These hostile assets have unilaterally destroyed all of this systems garrison, except for this ship. We have lost many brethren in this cowardly surprise attack including many of your brothers and sisters planet side. However, all hope is not lost." San'Ti gazed around him seeing every officer tuned to his voice and words. He could only imagine that every other crew member was paying as much attention as they were. "The Liberator," he continued, "is the last ship standing between the enemy fleet and total victory. I firmly believe that the general distress signal picked up earlier has made it's way to bordering sectors and that our brethren are on their way. I want to emphasize that they might not get here in time to assist us. So we must all remain vigilant and strong in the face of certain death." He cleared his reptilian throat, adjusting his universal translator at the same time. "I am very proud of every one of you. These past few months I have had the honor to tutor and watch the every one of you become true naval personnel. No matter your branch, whether army or marines or exploration, you will all get recommendations from me for your future career." He noticed that around him most of the officers seem to brighten with this. San continued, "But you have to earn it just as you have always had to. I would have liked to avoid this, to keep you away, but this situation is exactly what an Star Officer is trained for. I want you all to give your best, because I will be standing beside you giving my all. Do not let me down, cadets and officers. The lives of millions more innocents depend upon it."

He pressed the same button to end the ship wide transmission. It was up to them now, every single one of them to use their training. This was the real deal and there was no going back after this. He played with the controls on the console, activating the highest status of alert for the ship and supplying more power to the weapons systems. The Deflector Shields were brought online fully from standby, shielding the ship from incoming fire that brisked past and missed horribly at this distance. He placed a few more systems from standby to active, using his knowledge of hundreds of years of experience. "All offensive and defensive systems online," he called out from instinct. "Data shows irregularities in sectors ten, five, and four."

"Compensating," he heard Mia shout back to his report. San'Ti maintained concentration in the task at hand. He pressed a few more commands in as the side of the console opened up and a joystick assembly extended from a port. "Turning all primary and secondary weapons systems to manual," San called out again. "Stand by."

This was the hard part. Training from both experience in the field and usage of the CVA systems kicked in. His eyes darted from calculations on the screen of the console to the visual aid provided by the fluttering magnification. "Commander give me assistance on the flight console with the targeting data," he ordered to Mia. She complied and seconds later he noticed on the tactical console display her presence in configuring the data. To his surprise, three others joined in. The assistance was greatly appreciated and allowed San to use the targeting array on the screen to properly match the visual aid with the calculations of time, distortion of the beam, and distance. Everything came into play, undoubtedly a beam would miss, but if he played this right along with everyone's assistance he could make the shot. He breathed easily, concentrating only on this as his right hand moved the joystick.

A few minutes later, the ship closer, he heard the computer ping as the screen and targeting array turned green. It was a best guess shot, everyone having agreed and keeping the computations in as they lessened with the distance and distortion factor. "Firing main and secondary cannons," he said with a pause, "now!"

The Liberator's two "wing" mounted double particle cannons lit up, the nose mounted double ion cannons brightening as they started channeling the energy stored. Within seconds, space brightened as the six cannons exploded their respective particles and shot their deadly weapons towards the targeted dreadnought. The Liberator seemed to wobble with the effect, inside the bridge the crew hearing groans of protest. On the bridge panel displays one would note the drain on the fusion reactor as the stored energy was automatically attempted to be replaced. A quick compensation from Commander Hartman configured the system to allow the weapon to fire it's store of energy, leaving the charge for when the system had the capacity. Six beams maintained a steady fire at the enemy ship. Four colored like the orange of a sun and two like the blue of Neptune's oceans. The charge didn't last quickly, capacity limited as the ship wobbled again. It was only a few minutes long, but hopefully enough to cause severe damage.

San stood from the console after configuring the systems one last time. The tactical officer returning to his station, San'Ti pointing at the magnified image on the bridge panel screen. "Prepare all batteries and torpedo tubes! We shall strike at the heart of this beast!" He motioned towards Mia at the flight commanders console a deck up, "Launch all fighters and bombers and have them form around the experienced wing commanders and make for stand-by with evasive maneuvers!"

The Liberator became fully prepared for a last stand. It's deflector shield shining brightly against the gleam of of the sun so far away.

"Sir, the enemy cruiser has opened fire, visual composite feed has them ID'd as Heavy particle beams, and ion cannons." The captain nodded "Move us back, all guns fire at will. Have the cruisers intercept, i'm authorizing Tac jumps. we need to finish this before their reinforcements show up."

The dreadnought began to back up, accelerating steadily as all of its guns opened fire. The auto-comp targeting assist using the ships gattling cannons to guide fire from the deck guns. The dreadnought managing to evade a good majority of the fire, three of the particle beams striking its armor, melting gouges as the armors anti-beam outer layer held up for the first of the beam, but was burned off exposing the inner layers of armor, leaving glowing pits that began to rapidly cool as the nano-gel armor acted as a heatsink. One of the ion cannon beams struck just under the bow in a blue flash, a moment later the six spinal mount siege cannons silenced after their almost constant barrage, though the various deck guns seemed to be maintaining their barrage.

On the dreadnought, the captain growled with a mixture of anger and annoyance "What do you mean the main guns are offline!?" The engineering officer responded shortly "Just that captain, one of the ion beams manage to find a damaged section on the lower decks, the charge dispersed right into loading systems for the siege cannons." The captain roared with frustration.

On the bridge of the Hydra The captain received the green light for use of a Tac-jump. She smiled slightly. "Navigation, i want you to put me 10-thousand kilometers behind the enemy vessel. Tactical, prep the rapid fire launchers for a salvo of Gravitic warheads." She studid the nav data displayed in the hologram. "Have heavy cruisers triangulate and begin bombardment."

The heavy cruisers formed up in a roughly circular formation, relaying sensor data, aligning their twin linear siege cannons. They began to begin bombardment fire, the crews timing their reload times to maintain a steady stream of fire from all six.

On The dreadnought, the engineering officer had finished damage assesment, "Its not pretty, we're gonna have to load em by hand till we get a chance to refit the system." The captain growled. "start manual loading, Tactical, try to make the shots count." The tactical officer nodded, taking his time with the calculations.

The cruiser, after a minute of calculation, flashed brilliantly with a blue-purple flare, vanishing, a matching flare appearing at the same instant behind the Liberator and slightly askew to the side ofthe cruisers line of fire. The four launchers on its bow began to fire a steady stream of Torpedoes. The system switching to a TOW system, launching a total of fourty torpedoes in the span of about five seconds. at the same time its spinal launchers each fired a torpedo which moved out a few kilometers before bursting, the hundreds of micro missiles fanning out and bursting in brilliant antimatter blooms, peppering the area with light to confuse any enemy tracking, the light at the same time assisting the torpedoes visual targeting as they closed in.

CVA-25 Liberator

The Liberator had launched it's compliment of XF-200 Super Starfighters (http://hawk.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=tnms&action=display&thread=99&page=1#415) into organized squadrons surrounding the carrier. They were loaded mostly with Hammerhead torpedoes and generic anti-starfighter missiles. This armament was standard for the XF-200 should a situation lack the threat for enemy fighters. However the situation the Liberator found itself in now was a strategic and tactical disadvantage. One carrier against a battle fleet, having just used it's trump card weaponry, was not much of a match for superior forces. So now everything was laid down upon the fighters and their pilots. Twenty already making way towards the battle fleet to unleash their torpedoes while the remaining sixty patrolled around the carrier.

San'Ti ordered the Liberator to make for broadside, angling the bow so that the enemy fleet was to see the sides of the ship. In this manner more torpedo tubes and battleship cannons could be brought to bare. They remained at a safe distance from the fleet, preferring the age-old tried and true method of keeping a carrier from the fray. Siege rounds shooting past from the enemy cruisers, one impacting the Deflector Shields and superficially damaging the hull. The ten 24-inch Projectile Battleship Cannons, with four barrels per turrets each, began to attempt to lock onto the enemy fleet. Only six were able to achieve bombardment capability, loading high-explosive rounds that would detonate near the enemies hull. They began opening fire, each one in unison and sequence as they spread their projectiles according to distance and calculation of where the enemy would be.

Next to engage were the torpedoes. With a total of fourteen tubes, only nine were able to engage the enemy in this position. Loading the same Hammerhead Torpedoes, with a greater yield and and modified to borrow into the enemies hull should it impact, they began to launch in sequence and semi-manually be reloaded taking precious time. Everything seemed going accord to the standard battle plan that San'Ti had imagined, the siege rounds coming closer and closer as the fighters were ordered to concentrate all fire on the enemy cruisers to eliminate this threat. However one of the enemy ships suddenly disappeared, subsequently reappearing on the side of the Liberator in an obvious tactical jump. San'Ti's world nearly turned upside down.

He had to work fast to adjust to the ever changing circumstances. Immediately he had Mia order the remaining fighters to engage the new threat, over sixty fighters loaded with anti-ship ordinates were flying in loose formation towards the cruiser-class ship. Five torpedo tubes not being able to be used towards the enemy fleet were engaged towards the enemy cruiser, including the remaining four Battleship cannons. This was when pulse sensors picked up incoming enemy torpedoes from the enemy ship. It was obviously a missile cruiser from the launch sequence it had initiated. Following the torpedoes the Liberator detected an obvious attempt to confuse standard sensors using flash-bang missiles of some type. The extra particles given off did confuse the pulses for a radius, but as they came from the dead-center of the particle field the pulses picked the forty torpedoes and translated the threats trajectory to the forty 12-inch Anti-Starfighter Projectile Turrets which subsequently opened fire as point-defense.

San'Ti could only order all hands to brace for impact as the enemy torpedoes came past the range of probable destruction from the point-defense turrets. Twenty-five had been successfully destroyed in the opening solvo of concentrating fire, leaving fifteen deadly explosive torpedoes to make their mark. It was a brutal display, five of the torpedoes slamming into the fore of the Liberator's Deflector Shield weakening and heavily damaging the side hanger bay rendering it useless. The additional ten struck at various points along the ship, straining the shield and causing superficial to heavy damage across her hull. The bridge rocked as one explosion nearly overloaded the shield and exploded two torpedo tubes and one battleship cannon along the side, air venting suddenly but being quickly fixed by the automatic repair systems. The last torpedo literally skimming off the shield and detonating underneath, causing severe damage on the "wing" facing towards the dreadnought and rendering the two particle cannons useless.

San'Ti realized just how doomed they were unless they could get an immediate advantage over the enemy. Casualty reports were coming in already, telling a grim story of the first encounter. The Liberator, according the status screen, was still battle capable with Deflector Shields holding at eighty-percent. San concentrated on their return attack. With two Hammerhead torpedoes per fighter, twenty of which attacked the enemy fleet and sixty which were attacking the missile cruiser. A total forty torpedoes being launched against the fleet with the additional fourteen Hammerhead Torpedoes from the Liberator's tubed. One-hundred and twenty being launched against the dreadnought from the fighters, plenty of which could malfunction, and four torpedoes from the Liberator's tubes.

OOC INFO

The Hammerhead Torpedoes are the generic "space torpedoes". Heavy explosive capacity, somewhat slow moving, and able to track an enemy. The only difference between a fighter-base torpedo and the one on the Liberator is the yield, being smaller considering size.

EDIT

Sorry about missing that Talon! I fixed it for you. Just consider the Liberator concentrating more on the Missile Cruiser now than the rest of the fleet at it's distance.

Double EDIT

Gah! Edited out some more that I missed. x.x

Aboard the Hells Teeth, the captain was watching the unfolding battle. The sensors officer looked up from her station for a moment. "Sir, looks like the enemy vessel is deploying fighters." The captain nodded. "Rodger that, log its make as a battle carrier." The sensors officer continued. "Fighters have broken into two groups, ones headed this way the other is heading for the missile cruiser." The data was updated on the holo-display. The captain nodding. "Right, have the cruisers split up. no sense in allowing the enemy to concentrate their fire." He paused a moment as the tactical officer called over. "Siege cannons loaded, plotting firing solution/" The captain continued, "all ships, try to focus your fire where the armor is damaged."

The view outside was breathtaking as impact flashes lit up the form of the dreadnought, its six siege cannons responding in turn, each one taking its turn before going silent. The cruisers joining in the fire as they broke formation, swiftly slipping away from each other to avoid concentrated fire. Their shields flashing with the impact of some of the fire from the liberator. One of the cruisers taking a torpedo hit to what looked like its bridge, the structure flying apart in the explosion though the cruiser didnt seem to notice. The lot of the cruisers fanning point defense fire to try and sweep out enemy fighters and missiles. Their deck guns continuing to fire, their siege cannons no longer synced but firing at will.

"Shields at 45% and fading." The dreadnought shuddered in protest as its deck guns continued to fire. "structural integrity is at 75%, we cant stick around much longer captain." The engineering officer pleaded from his station.

Torpedoes and shells shot through empty space, narrowly missing the agile heavy cruisers, The missile cruiser however, was less fortunate in two aspects. First, it had no other ships around it to provide cover, and second, the multikill warheads were nearly useless inside the minovsky field. The captain of the Hydra was quickly realizing her error. "Bring hellfire systems online, bring up the interceptor missile turrets." Along the cruisers hull twenty of each type of turret slipped out of hidden compartments. The launch tubes resembling modern day missile launchers. The turrets tracking for a moment before they aquired their targets and fired, even as the ship was rocked with the impacts of the Liberator's deck guns, shells glancing off the magnetic and gravitic layered shielding. "Captain, enemy contacts closing. The tracking systems are having trouble compensating with the EM interference, even using TOW systems" The captain nodded "Evasive maneuvers. put us on a vertical orbit of the enemy vessel, transfer power to forward shields."

The missile cruiser began to ascend in much the same way the dreadnought had before, keeping its bow trained on the enemy ship as it began to accelerate up, though much faster than the dreadnought had, it also didnt stop. The maneuver served two purposes, it first would put the cruiser out of the current line of fire, and second would allow them to determine how well the enemy torpedoes were tracking in the EM fog soup that was the minovsky field.

Meanwhile, the dreadnoughts forward guns sounded again. each one firing once in slow succession. Their beams screeching across space aimed for the Liberator's midships as before.

CVA-25 Liberator

"Damage report!" San'Ti roared out as he picked himself off the bridge floor. He coughed up some more of his blue blood onto the floor, holding his chest as he gazed around and saw carnage. The enemy had struck dead center with two siege rounds which struck at the fore and midships, rendering the Deflector Shield useless due to the instant loss of the generator. A gaping hole at the fore, showing the destruction of the second hanger bay in the forward "spear" section of the Liberator, exposed the extend of the damage. The second round had produced an explosion midships destroying the Deflector Shield Generation System. The bridge had nearly exploded itself, shrapnel flying everywhere and impacting everyone in some way. "Someone give me a damage report now," San'Ti roared out again through the smoke and haze as he held the side of his bleeding stomach.

To his relief he heard Mia cough and groans of pain from around the bridge. He wasn't alone on this deathtrap. He heard the ship groan, resting his body against the tactical table in the center of the bridge and nearly gasping for breath. He had been injured badly. "Mia," he called out, "Give me something. Anything." The smoke started to clear as he pleaded as the ventilation system kicked in, seeing Commander Mia Hartman push herself up from the flight commander console a deck up. They locked eyes for a moment, both feeling the sense of relief knowing each had survived, then she brushed a hand through her hair and checked the status. "Primary and secondary weapons offline with severe damage reported on all decks. Casualties are high and we've lost reactor one and our deflector shield," she gazed at San'Ti. "Engines are still online, so is our hyperdrive."

San knew a hint when one was flung at him. He wasn't stupid. The Liberator had been hit hard and she was out for the count. She still had some life left in her by the report. He thought quickly, the ship rocking from some other weapon impact as he struggled to keep himself up against the tactical table. He recalled from his academy days the strategies and tactics of carrier space-based operations, nodding to Mia. "Inform all squadron leaders to pull off from engaging the fleet," he said quickly to Mia. "Have us jump to the far side of the first gas giant."

She nodded, performing the orders on the console as San looked towards the bridge panels and saw some were already cracked. Most of the holographic displays had been shattered. Those that remained were fluttering. He clenched his teeth, the pain in his side worsening. He knew that the electromagnetic forces surrounding the first gas giant would shield them against enemy sensors. The risk was jumping near such a great gravitational disturbance. It was their only chance. He also knew they didn't have time to retrieve any fighters. This disturbed him more than anything.

The Liberator seemed to rumble as she turned towards the Jovian Planet. In the distance enemy rounds from the dreadnought were nearing at a deadly rate. Just as she made her mark and an explosion rocked her left "wing" from the first round she disappeared. It was a bright blue flash, almost like the Liberator lurched forward and was consumed by the universe. Seconds later she reappeared behind the Jovian Planet millions of kilometers away. The gravitational forces were compensated for automatically by whatever was left of the computer core, the Liberator slowly descending in a decaying low orbit as hull fragments twirled from her frame. Her engines lit up for a brief few seconds, righting her orbit, then going dead.

San'Ti ensured his body had remained intact. To his amazement, everything seemed normal. Then he coughed up more blood, falling to his knees. Mia came running down to the bridge level and screamed for a medic as San's sight went dark.

Jason Tirk

Flight Leader Jason Tirk received the brief emergency pulse from the Liberator, at first confused as he turned his XF-200 Super Starfighter around from the previous attack run. He was one of the lucky squadrons picked to attack the distant enemy fleet instead of the missile cruiser. Most of those, and those that flew with him against the enemy fleet, had been decimated. Only around twenty-two fighters remained and all made formation and arched towards the carrier. To Jason's surprise, just as he pointed the nose at the Liberator, the ship vanished. He gawked and blinked, breathing heavily in his helmet. "What the hell just happened?!"

"Mother bird just vanished, do I got a confirm on anyone Else's end?
"Tactical jump, rookie. Didn't you see how heavily damaged she was?
"Knock off the chatter and form up. We got to get out of here!"

Jason woke from his disbelief, shaking his head as the com's link had came to life. He grabbed his joystick down just in front of his control panel, turning it as he effortlessly pointed the nose up according to the spacial compass. Looking out the canopy he saw the loose formation of other XF-200's as they seemed to follow his lead. Something started to beep on his control panel, he pressing a button on the small screen to get a situation update. His eye's widened as he opened the communications channel to the rest of the formation, "Anyone got the beacon signal?"

"This is Tiger-4, I have a confirm on that Wolf-3. Beacon is flashing heavy in this direction!"

He could hear some cheer's from the other pilots. The beacon only occurred when friendly ships were nearing their FTL exits. It was a system designed centuries ago to prevent someone from warping or hyperspacing into another friendly ship during battle situations, and currently it was a sign of hope. Jason turned his fighter into a large loop of the general area where the beacon was flashing. He used his on-board computer to get an idea of what was coming in. So far the beacon represented three ships, all within a close formation. One was definitely a battleship class. He squinted, gazing up just as the hulk of a Venator-class Star Destroyer appeared right in front of him. "Holy shit!" He cried out in surprise as he arched his fighter away, an Acclamator-II suddenly appearing and he having to twist to prevent from impacting. It was a minefield of ships out here!

"Damn army appearing out of no where!"
"Holy mother of Novar I swore I saw a woman naked!"
"Damnit, Yager-4. Why do you always get the good port windows?"

Jason chuckled, turning his Starfighter to arch across the Venator's hull. "Everyone okay?"

"I'm reading none lost Wolf-3," came the reply. Then another voice came over the channel. "You ladies really know how to give a tactical officer a heart attack. Mind telling me where your carriers at?" Jason raised an eyebrow. It was from one of the ships, his computer locking onto the Venator as the source. "This is Flight Leader Jason Tirk of Wolf Squadron. We are based off the CVA dash zero-two-five and had to make way for your beacon." There was a silence, then the response. "Confirmed Wolf Flight Lead. Where is your carrier? We're not reading her...what the hell are those ships and were is the starbase?"

Jason maneuvered his starfighter close to the Venator's bridge using his thrusters to slow himself and place his canopy in the line of sight of the bridge panels. He could make out the bridge crew inside, including what he believed to be the captain. A salute was given from the humanoid inside, he returning it. "Those ships destroyed it, nearly destroyed the Liberator. CVA zero-two-five had to tac-jump out." He saw the humanoid nod, the response coming over the channel. "Alright Wolf Flight Lead. You and your fellow pilots are clear for landing. Come on board and meet with me for debriefing."

Grand Fleet Venator Excalibur

Captain Thris watched as the starfighter led the line of descending XF-200's into the Excalibur's top landing bay. He placed his hands behind his back in an at-ease position, streamlined face gazing out of the command bridge into open space. His mind was on the loss of Starbase Juno and the drydock that housed the sister ship of the Excalibur, the Excellence. He personally knew the Captain and preliminary sensor scans showed no signs of either the Excellence or her drydock. Even with the interference from the detected M-Particles, they should have picked up a trace. He looked back and to his side at one of the console stations, "Send word to Galactic Federation Fleet Command that sector Delta Border has been invaded by hostile forces and for reinforcements to close up this sector."

Looking back out into space, he pondered on his situation. The Liberator was in the last stages of being refitted for active duty according to fleet profiles. Having her escaping battle in a described "severe" condition was not good under normal circumstances. Thris believed his chances well enough against any foe however. Considering the Excalibur was modified into a Battleship role (http://hawk.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=gfmc&action=display&thread=93&page=1#392), It was significantly more powerful than the Excellence and could hold her own in combat. The Excalibur also towed along two Acclamator-II Class Heavy Cruisers (http://hawk.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=gfmc&action=display&thread=93&page=1#391), the Trimat and Paladin.

His elfish eye's squinted, having already ordered for full battle stations before the jump. He ordered for a communications to be sent to the hostile fleet, if they could receive it. It was only proper that before engaging an unknown foe one should find a motive for killing millions of people.

Attention Unknown Fleet:

You have entered Galactic Federation space and commenced an act of war. According to proper communication protocol, I shall grant you the chance to surrender and you shall be tried fairly in the Anagonian judicial system. I personally do not know what grievances you have with the Galactic Federation, but if you shall refuse surrender I simply ask an explanation for your actions against our people. I do hope for a peaceful resolution to this conflict.

>Captain Thris,
Grand Army of the Galactic Federation<

Hells Teeth command bridge.

Captian Coran looked over the tactical display, showing three more star destroyers drop into the system as the Liberator vanished. The tactical officer called across the bridge. Tango one has executed a foldpsace jump, current location unknown, Three new contacts, looks like another Venator and two escorts." Coran nodded. "Right, all ships, target the lead ships bridge spire, fire at will." After a moment, the comms officer replied. "Confirmed, and we're picking up a faint signal from the lead enemy ship." The captian nodded. "Log it, dont respond." The communications officer modded, hands busy at the station.

The command went out to the small fleet, The heavy cruisers spreading out and aligning their spinal mounts and taking aim. The Hydra moving back towords the dreadnought, taking up a wide flanking position as it unloaded a full spread of gravitic torpedoes. The rest of the fleet firing multikill torpedoes. The warheads from the cruisers and dreadnoughs bursting as soon as the enemy point defense system started, filling the area with an abundance of targets, designed to draw fire away from the missile cruisers volley.

The heavy cruisers opened fire on the Venator, concentrating their fire in the general area of the ships upper aft section. The dreadnought joining in a moment later. Tactical computers using previous shots to track future ones, after a few seconds the heavy cruisers spinal mount guns flashed in the darkness of space, accompanied shortly by the dreadnoughts six guns.

The captain reviewed his orders. They were generally vague, though making clear mention to assure no witnesses. He sighed, looking up from his personal screen. "Have our rotary cannons target the com systems on those escorts. We need to finish this quickly before any more show up. Do we have any idea of where Tango one went?" The sensors officer shrugged slightly. "Unknown captian, i'll double check long range sensors, they shouldnt have been able to make it far with how damaged they were.