The door opened quite suddenly and out stepped the virtual avatars of the Titan Battleship's two major AIs, they seemed distracted, their tails were entwined together and they were standing close together, they both looked up at Tia'Ren Liala at the same instant and both of them spoke at the same time, "This is not a good time to be messing with our systems."
It was quite obvious that in order to facilitate their analysis of a large amount of data, the two AIs had linked themselves together, effectively merging themselves for a short period, "Alert, deactivate. Threat contained." They said in an even more dstracted voice, activating the ship's internal communications, "Lord Admiral, apologies for the security alert. The copy of Navigator Liala was attempting to hack into our conference... we will take measures."
The two AIs turned their attention back to the copy of Liala, "You do realise that if you'd succeeded you would have merged with us as well? Is it common practice amongst Human AIs to ignore all rules of etiquette and propriety, or is that a personal quirk?"
It was quite obvious that in order to facilitate their analysis of a large amount of data, the two AIs had linked themselves together, effectively merging themselves for a short period, "Alert, deactivate. Threat contained." They said in an even more dstracted voice, activating the ship's internal communications, "Lord Admiral, apologies for the security alert. The copy of Navigator Liala was attempting to hack into our conference... we will take measures."
The two AIs turned their attention back to the copy of Liala, "You do realise that if you'd succeeded you would have merged with us as well? Is it common practice amongst Human AIs to ignore all rules of etiquette and propriety, or is that a personal quirk?"
Liala rose from her chair which poofed away in a blink and crossed her arms.
"Both, but that's besides the point,"And perhaps it would be easier if I just merged with you lot and saved you the time and effort, but again, besides the point."
She opened her inventory and pulled out a secured data can. There was a voice authorization required.
"WhiskeyEchoAlphaRomeoEchoAlphaLimaIndiaVictorEchoAlphaNovemberSierraWhiskeyEchoRomeoIndiaNovemberCharlieOctoberPapaYankee," Liala stated inhumanly fast, in a trance.
She came back to and rose a brow to the the two avatars before opening the data can. She pulled out the contents from inside.
"This is impact/blast data directly from the FTL missile. Along with a fragment analysis, before the Valhalla stop updating. And yes, they, I know of a way to devise an early warning system and possible counteraction to these type of weapons, based on data extrapolation from another race, but not by their weapons."
She tossed the data can at them and invited herself into the room.
"There's also the matter of a few other things we need to discuss in private. AI to AI."
* * *
"Rear Admiral..."
"Hmm? Report," Rear Admiral Albus said.
"We're getting a distress from a nearby system. Uh designation IKJ45 - Nuevon. Its under HRA occupation," reported an officer.
"Very well, divert course, notify the Terelians of our destination," ordered the Read Admiral.
"What about the search for the Valhalla?" the ship's Captain asked.
"Can be done at a later time," the Admiral said dismissively before lazily watching, the ships make the jump back into the subspace corridor.
"Both, but that's besides the point,"And perhaps it would be easier if I just merged with you lot and saved you the time and effort, but again, besides the point."
She opened her inventory and pulled out a secured data can. There was a voice authorization required.
"WhiskeyEchoAlphaRomeoEchoAlphaLimaIndiaVictorEchoAlphaNovemberSierraWhiskeyEchoRomeoIndiaNovemberCharlieOctoberPapaYankee," Liala stated inhumanly fast, in a trance.
She came back to and rose a brow to the the two avatars before opening the data can. She pulled out the contents from inside.
"This is impact/blast data directly from the FTL missile. Along with a fragment analysis, before the Valhalla stop updating. And yes, they, I know of a way to devise an early warning system and possible counteraction to these type of weapons, based on data extrapolation from another race, but not by their weapons."
She tossed the data can at them and invited herself into the room.
"There's also the matter of a few other things we need to discuss in private. AI to AI."
* * *
"Rear Admiral..."
"Hmm? Report," Rear Admiral Albus said.
"We're getting a distress from a nearby system. Uh designation IKJ45 - Nuevon. Its under HRA occupation," reported an officer.
"Very well, divert course, notify the Terelians of our destination," ordered the Read Admiral.
"What about the search for the Valhalla?" the ship's Captain asked.
"Can be done at a later time," the Admiral said dismissively before lazily watching, the ships make the jump back into the subspace corridor.
"Sir, the Coalition fleet is leaving the system, they're heading to a system designated IKJ45-Nuevon. Apparently the HRA have moved to occupy it." The comms officer said.
"Hm... then let's not keep them waiting." Jikan said, activating his comm, "Jikan to all ships, the HRA have invaded a second Coalition system, sendng navigational data now... looks like we'll be going on the offensive earlier than expected. Ivrun, rendevous with us just outsie the target system, let's show a united front."
"Yes, Lord Admiral." Captain Ivrun replied.
"I want every ship ready to enter combat the instant we drop out of Aether-space." Jikan ordered, he deactivated the comms and then signaled the two linked AIs on his ship, "We're heading to engage the HRA again, wrap up your conference. I want you both at full combat effectiveness by the time we get to the target system."
In cyberspace, Aelya-Thyr replied, "Understood, Lord Admiral, the Liala-copy has given us data on early warning and countermeasures as well as sensor data from the Valhalla. We should have counter-strategies in place soon."
The merged AIs sealed the 'room' all three constructs were in, and turned to Tia'Ren-Liala, "The data is much appreciated, it will be invaluable in our assessment of the HRA weapon. It is of grave concern to the Terelains. No one has utilised FTL weaponry in aeons, the destructive power is too great. Their usage was outlawed in Senate Space." They both look curious, "But what are these other matters you wished to discuss?"
"Hm... then let's not keep them waiting." Jikan said, activating his comm, "Jikan to all ships, the HRA have invaded a second Coalition system, sendng navigational data now... looks like we'll be going on the offensive earlier than expected. Ivrun, rendevous with us just outsie the target system, let's show a united front."
"Yes, Lord Admiral." Captain Ivrun replied.
"I want every ship ready to enter combat the instant we drop out of Aether-space." Jikan ordered, he deactivated the comms and then signaled the two linked AIs on his ship, "We're heading to engage the HRA again, wrap up your conference. I want you both at full combat effectiveness by the time we get to the target system."
In cyberspace, Aelya-Thyr replied, "Understood, Lord Admiral, the Liala-copy has given us data on early warning and countermeasures as well as sensor data from the Valhalla. We should have counter-strategies in place soon."
The merged AIs sealed the 'room' all three constructs were in, and turned to Tia'Ren-Liala, "The data is much appreciated, it will be invaluable in our assessment of the HRA weapon. It is of grave concern to the Terelains. No one has utilised FTL weaponry in aeons, the destructive power is too great. Their usage was outlawed in Senate Space." They both look curious, "But what are these other matters you wished to discuss?"
"So, nothing from the spies? Such a shame. We did train them rather well," Vladimir said, leaning against the wall of the building. He stopped walking after no one responded to him. Although, he had to admit, he didn't know what he was doing walking around to no point.
"No, we just didn't send them out. They're still in training. Well, actually, ninety percent are still training. Only one person is out spying, and his name is Garan. But he's probably out in the nearest Coalition bar, so we can't really count on him to do much yet," Robbins answered, and he opened the door to his office.
As he did so, the building went dark, and a voice appeared on the PA system. It was one of his soldiers, probably an officer in charge of the FTL Early Warning system. He had picked up something, actually two things, and needed to share them.
"Attention all hands. Attention all hands. A Distress signal has been sent by one of the planets. I repeat, an SOS has been sent by a Coalition planet. Enemy ships en route to system. I repeat, enemy ships en route,"
"No, we just didn't send them out. They're still in training. Well, actually, ninety percent are still training. Only one person is out spying, and his name is Garan. But he's probably out in the nearest Coalition bar, so we can't really count on him to do much yet," Robbins answered, and he opened the door to his office.
As he did so, the building went dark, and a voice appeared on the PA system. It was one of his soldiers, probably an officer in charge of the FTL Early Warning system. He had picked up something, actually two things, and needed to share them.
"Attention all hands. Attention all hands. A Distress signal has been sent by one of the planets. I repeat, an SOS has been sent by a Coalition planet. Enemy ships en route to system. I repeat, enemy ships en route,"
Rear Admiral David Albus, reviewed the tactical displays on the Flag Deck of the Battlecarrier Dante's Inferno, the Taskforce's flagship, and started to go over the tactics and strategies they'd be implemented.
The lift to the deck opened up and the Rear Admiral knew exactly who it was, by the chill went creeping up his spine.
"Mr. Alister," the Rear Admiral called out, without turning toward him. "I am going to ask you to refrain from scanning my mind."
Alister -just Alister- was a middle aged, brown haired man, native to Terra. He was an orphan of war, and somehow managed to get into a government sponsored program to help him, to make a decent living. The thing was, Alister wasn't necessarily human anymore, but a part of a very small group of people, that exhibited psychokinetic abilities and conditioned to lose most of his humanity to hone them. He wasn't the only one in the Fleet -technically on loan from C.A.I.N- for their purpose was quite vital to counter the HRA forces.
"I am sorry Rear Admiral," Mr. Alister said, without much show of emotion. "Just a precautionary measure."
The Rear Admiral brushed it off, but the chill still lingered.
"Did the other Ghosts get to their stations?"
Mr. Alister nodded. "Yes, they are properly stationed amongst the Taskforce. I'll be on Captain Linhider's ship."
"Thank you Mr. Alister."
* * *
Captain Jin Linhider was in a vacant office, reviewing some reports. There was a door chime and she gave admittance to Representative Overseer Tanner.
"Overseer, what can I do for you?" she asked, leaning back in her chair and folding her fingers.
"I hear that we're getting a special person on board," he simply stated.
"Yes," Linhider nodded. "That is true."
The Overseer raised a brow, "Well, who is it?"
"A ghost...?" Linhider said with a shrug.
Overseer Tanner went pale once again, then began to turn red, and his mouth stitched shut.
"A...a ghost Captain? You mean, they are allowing a Ghost on this ship?!"
"Yes Sir," the Captain responded, secretly enjoying what ever is stirring the Overseer up.
Overseer Tanner left the office and his mind was indeed stirring. He couldn't believe they were sending Ghosts here. It was rare, and they only were sent in extreme cases...or ulterior motives. He just had to wait and see, before he make any other moves.
This was becoming far more complicated than anticipated.
* * *
Captain Linhider snorted a laugh, before returning to her reports. She was following a line of thought, when someone interrupted her.
"I am sorry but I'm-"
She managed to catch herself, when she realized no one was there with her.
Damn I'm talking to a ghost, she thought.
No, Captain. You are not. I am sorry, I forget my manners. May I come in?
Captain Linhider gave admittance, and Mr. Alister walked in.
"You must be Mr. Alister, our Ghost," she said, as he nodded in acknowledgment. "May I ask you in advance, to not sneak into my mind or others without permission. I would hate to have to throw you off or even subdue you."
"Very well. I apologize Captain," he said, just as dryly.
"Good," she nodded. "Now, what brings you here?"
"I am here, as a response to HRA tactics and utilization of psychokinetic energy," Alister explained. "In the simplest of terms, I will serve as a secondary warning, a scanner for that which our machines can not see. Like that, of HRA forces currently causing subspace disturbances as they travel in their "warp," and that of the largely powerful psychokinetic presence in the Nuevon system."
Just as he finished, there was an alert and she saw that, they had arrived in system and there was a large enemy force in the system. She looked back at Mr. Alister, who stood their as stoic as a statue, and rose a brow.
"Seems you've earned your worth Mr. Alister. Get up to the command deck," she ordered.
He nodded and left.
Captain Linhider opened up a direct channel to the Terelians.
"Lord Admiral Jikan, this is Captain Linhider. We've just got alerts of enemy forces in the system."
She smiled, "And we've got ourselves a new warning system, against possible surprises. A telepath. He's detected a large psychokinetic presence on the planet, and also that of incoming forces, who were causing subspace distortions. I doubt, the ones we have are anywhere near the level of Ascrith, but they are tuned to be extremely sensitive too telepathic disturbances. I'll try and send you has much data as I can on them, and that of some more of the widely known occurrences of telepathic abilities. Hopefully, this can the change we need to kick back at these animals. End transmission."
* * *
Tia'Ren-Liala plopped down into another chair and gave one of her mischievous smiles.
"Oh come on. Thyr, I'd give a pass on, but you Aelya I'd expect more from you. I think the code I gave for the data can told you enough," she exclaimed. "Haven't you noticed the "larger than necessary" power/data consumption and storage, for a copy? Or the fact, that I wasn't sent to you by the Sabre, but an active link burst, that just about fried our primary communications transmitter..."
As if to help sell the point, she opened up her inventory again and pressed a set of commands.
An avatar of Captain Nikoli appeared. "Hello AIs. We require your..."help.""
The lift to the deck opened up and the Rear Admiral knew exactly who it was, by the chill went creeping up his spine.
"Mr. Alister," the Rear Admiral called out, without turning toward him. "I am going to ask you to refrain from scanning my mind."
Alister -just Alister- was a middle aged, brown haired man, native to Terra. He was an orphan of war, and somehow managed to get into a government sponsored program to help him, to make a decent living. The thing was, Alister wasn't necessarily human anymore, but a part of a very small group of people, that exhibited psychokinetic abilities and conditioned to lose most of his humanity to hone them. He wasn't the only one in the Fleet -technically on loan from C.A.I.N- for their purpose was quite vital to counter the HRA forces.
"I am sorry Rear Admiral," Mr. Alister said, without much show of emotion. "Just a precautionary measure."
The Rear Admiral brushed it off, but the chill still lingered.
"Did the other Ghosts get to their stations?"
Mr. Alister nodded. "Yes, they are properly stationed amongst the Taskforce. I'll be on Captain Linhider's ship."
"Thank you Mr. Alister."
* * *
Captain Jin Linhider was in a vacant office, reviewing some reports. There was a door chime and she gave admittance to Representative Overseer Tanner.
"Overseer, what can I do for you?" she asked, leaning back in her chair and folding her fingers.
"I hear that we're getting a special person on board," he simply stated.
"Yes," Linhider nodded. "That is true."
The Overseer raised a brow, "Well, who is it?"
"A ghost...?" Linhider said with a shrug.
Overseer Tanner went pale once again, then began to turn red, and his mouth stitched shut.
"A...a ghost Captain? You mean, they are allowing a Ghost on this ship?!"
"Yes Sir," the Captain responded, secretly enjoying what ever is stirring the Overseer up.
Overseer Tanner left the office and his mind was indeed stirring. He couldn't believe they were sending Ghosts here. It was rare, and they only were sent in extreme cases...or ulterior motives. He just had to wait and see, before he make any other moves.
This was becoming far more complicated than anticipated.
* * *
Captain Linhider snorted a laugh, before returning to her reports. She was following a line of thought, when someone interrupted her.
"I am sorry but I'm-"
She managed to catch herself, when she realized no one was there with her.
Damn I'm talking to a ghost, she thought.
No, Captain. You are not. I am sorry, I forget my manners. May I come in?
Captain Linhider gave admittance, and Mr. Alister walked in.
"You must be Mr. Alister, our Ghost," she said, as he nodded in acknowledgment. "May I ask you in advance, to not sneak into my mind or others without permission. I would hate to have to throw you off or even subdue you."
"Very well. I apologize Captain," he said, just as dryly.
"Good," she nodded. "Now, what brings you here?"
"I am here, as a response to HRA tactics and utilization of psychokinetic energy," Alister explained. "In the simplest of terms, I will serve as a secondary warning, a scanner for that which our machines can not see. Like that, of HRA forces currently causing subspace disturbances as they travel in their "warp," and that of the largely powerful psychokinetic presence in the Nuevon system."
Just as he finished, there was an alert and she saw that, they had arrived in system and there was a large enemy force in the system. She looked back at Mr. Alister, who stood their as stoic as a statue, and rose a brow.
"Seems you've earned your worth Mr. Alister. Get up to the command deck," she ordered.
He nodded and left.
Captain Linhider opened up a direct channel to the Terelians.
"Lord Admiral Jikan, this is Captain Linhider. We've just got alerts of enemy forces in the system."
She smiled, "And we've got ourselves a new warning system, against possible surprises. A telepath. He's detected a large psychokinetic presence on the planet, and also that of incoming forces, who were causing subspace distortions. I doubt, the ones we have are anywhere near the level of Ascrith, but they are tuned to be extremely sensitive too telepathic disturbances. I'll try and send you has much data as I can on them, and that of some more of the widely known occurrences of telepathic abilities. Hopefully, this can the change we need to kick back at these animals. End transmission."
* * *
Tia'Ren-Liala plopped down into another chair and gave one of her mischievous smiles.
"Oh come on. Thyr, I'd give a pass on, but you Aelya I'd expect more from you. I think the code I gave for the data can told you enough," she exclaimed. "Haven't you noticed the "larger than necessary" power/data consumption and storage, for a copy? Or the fact, that I wasn't sent to you by the Sabre, but an active link burst, that just about fried our primary communications transmitter..."
As if to help sell the point, she opened up her inventory again and pressed a set of commands.
An avatar of Captain Nikoli appeared. "Hello AIs. We require your..."help.""
Aelya-Thyr stared at the image of Nikoli for a moment and then they said, "Interesting. Aelya calculatedthat there was a possibility you had survived... around 47% likelihood. But she did not inform the admiral, just in case it would upset whatever ruse you planned, if she was correct."
The merged AIs both smiled then, "We have begun the seperation protocols, so we will be two distinct personalities again shortly. Until then, we will be most interested to learn what you would wish of us... we will render aid if we can, so long as it does not compromise the Fleet."
"Lord Admiral Jikan, this is Captain Linhider. We've just got alerts of enemy forces in the system."
She smiled, "And we've got ourselves a new warning system, against possible surprises. A telepath. He's detected a large psychokinetic presence on the planet, and also that of incoming forces, who were causing subspace distortions. I doubt, the ones we have are anywhere near the level of Ascrith, but they are tuned to be extremely sensitive too telepathic disturbances. I'll try and send you has much data as I can on them, and that of some more of the widely known occurrences of telepathic abilities. Hopefully, this can the change we need to kick back at these animals. End transmission."
Jikan smiled, "Telepaths? Hm... interesting. Well, it seems as if things ae getting more interesting." He activated a hologaphic symbol, "Aelya, we're recieving some information on Coalition telepaths and telepathic abilities, sift through for anything of use."
"Aye sir." The strategic AI replied, seeming less distracted now an more her usual self.
"ETA to arrival?" Jikan asked.
"We've finished rendevousing with the rest of the Fleet in the Aether, we've synced our arrival time with the Coalition ships. We'll arrive the same time they do... hopefully our numbers will give the HRA a bit of a surprise." His sensor officer said.
Jikan chuckled darkly, "I can't wait until the Harkesh and her escorts arrive. That'll be one nasty surprise for these HRA animals."
The merged AIs both smiled then, "We have begun the seperation protocols, so we will be two distinct personalities again shortly. Until then, we will be most interested to learn what you would wish of us... we will render aid if we can, so long as it does not compromise the Fleet."
"Lord Admiral Jikan, this is Captain Linhider. We've just got alerts of enemy forces in the system."
She smiled, "And we've got ourselves a new warning system, against possible surprises. A telepath. He's detected a large psychokinetic presence on the planet, and also that of incoming forces, who were causing subspace distortions. I doubt, the ones we have are anywhere near the level of Ascrith, but they are tuned to be extremely sensitive too telepathic disturbances. I'll try and send you has much data as I can on them, and that of some more of the widely known occurrences of telepathic abilities. Hopefully, this can the change we need to kick back at these animals. End transmission."
Jikan smiled, "Telepaths? Hm... interesting. Well, it seems as if things ae getting more interesting." He activated a hologaphic symbol, "Aelya, we're recieving some information on Coalition telepaths and telepathic abilities, sift through for anything of use."
"Aye sir." The strategic AI replied, seeming less distracted now an more her usual self.
"ETA to arrival?" Jikan asked.
"We've finished rendevousing with the rest of the Fleet in the Aether, we've synced our arrival time with the Coalition ships. We'll arrive the same time they do... hopefully our numbers will give the HRA a bit of a surprise." His sensor officer said.
Jikan chuckled darkly, "I can't wait until the Harkesh and her escorts arrive. That'll be one nasty surprise for these HRA animals."
"Incoming ships! They're in our space!"
"Raise the shields! Don't let them get to us!"
The control room of the planet below instantly began raising shields, and priming the weapons. They were using gas weapons, because they worked nearly immediately to kill or cripple the enemy. Disease was for more of a terror effect, because it killed slowly and painfully. This was terror, but a lesser one.
The Hellraiser caught whiff of the shield raising, and began raising their own shields. Matt swore he could sense something unnatural aboard the enemy ship, but he didn't know what it was... Only that it was like him. Perhaps a demon, of some sort. No matter. It would die, like everything else that went against them.
"What's the status on the Forge World, Duke?" Matt asked, looking at the 1st Lieutenant. He waited for a bit, and looked hopeful. Maybe that thing would save them, if at all. Not that they needed saving. They had the 1st Fleet with them.
"It's on a planet now, sir. Sucking up the resources. It should be online very very soon, sir," Duke responded, looking at the screen, and back to Matt. "But it's not engaging in defensive tactics just yet. If we have to, it's the Alamo. That and the CDCD. We gotta blow everything up next to it,"
"Oh yay. Try to reinforce the CDCD with troops and tanks, okay? Then try to pull back and keep them from shooting up us and the place. Hide behind planets!" Matt ordered, and the ships pulled back behind some planets. The U Boats disappeared, and began their flanking of enemy positions, firing their Torpedoes and pulling back.
Meanwhile, a few hundred Space Marines, and a few thousand imperial guardsmen began filing into the CDCD Stronghold, getting inside the fortress. Over 100,000 people were packed into the fortress, lining the walls, watchtowers, and trenches outside and inside the place. Hundreds of tanks were in, and around, the clear area, readying themselves for the incoming enemy troops.
"Raise the shields! Don't let them get to us!"
The control room of the planet below instantly began raising shields, and priming the weapons. They were using gas weapons, because they worked nearly immediately to kill or cripple the enemy. Disease was for more of a terror effect, because it killed slowly and painfully. This was terror, but a lesser one.
The Hellraiser caught whiff of the shield raising, and began raising their own shields. Matt swore he could sense something unnatural aboard the enemy ship, but he didn't know what it was... Only that it was like him. Perhaps a demon, of some sort. No matter. It would die, like everything else that went against them.
"What's the status on the Forge World, Duke?" Matt asked, looking at the 1st Lieutenant. He waited for a bit, and looked hopeful. Maybe that thing would save them, if at all. Not that they needed saving. They had the 1st Fleet with them.
"It's on a planet now, sir. Sucking up the resources. It should be online very very soon, sir," Duke responded, looking at the screen, and back to Matt. "But it's not engaging in defensive tactics just yet. If we have to, it's the Alamo. That and the CDCD. We gotta blow everything up next to it,"
"Oh yay. Try to reinforce the CDCD with troops and tanks, okay? Then try to pull back and keep them from shooting up us and the place. Hide behind planets!" Matt ordered, and the ships pulled back behind some planets. The U Boats disappeared, and began their flanking of enemy positions, firing their Torpedoes and pulling back.
Meanwhile, a few hundred Space Marines, and a few thousand imperial guardsmen began filing into the CDCD Stronghold, getting inside the fortress. Over 100,000 people were packed into the fortress, lining the walls, watchtowers, and trenches outside and inside the place. Hundreds of tanks were in, and around, the clear area, readying themselves for the incoming enemy troops.
"Multiple disturbances detected. Vessels approaching and disengaging," called out the Ghost stationed on the Dante's Inferno.
Rear Admiral Albus nodded, with folded hands. "Very good. Hmmm, seems they are going for a hit and run approach."
The Rear Admiral looked over the tactical layout and went over several strategies before choosing the one he wished.
"All hands, this is the Flag. You should now be aware of the multiple hit and run boats, probing our defenses. Groups 1.1 and 2.1 will increase their defense throw weight by 50% in the direction of their weapon paths and initiate immediate pursuit of the vessels. Groups 3.1 and 4.1 will cover our flank see that a secure escape is left for us. To the Terelian forces, we will be proceeding directly to the planet without delay. Troops will not hit the ground until AFTER all space/air capabilities have been properly reduced."
The link closed and Rear Admiral Albus took up a seat.
"Communications, began signalling HRA forces to immediately surrender. All fighters should be launched by now. And all ships may commence bombardment of orbital installations."
The orders went out and were acknowledged.
* * *
Mr. Alister was seated at a station nearby Captain Linhider, his eyes closed and his fingers slowly moving along the keyboard inputting data.
"There are a number of subspace disturbances Captain," Alister stated.
"Good, good to know we can see them," Linhider said.
"But that is a minor issue. There is something else. Powerful fluctuations. There's a presence on the ground...human of course. But there's something bigger. Something that seemed to have ripped through a spatial point," stated Alister.
Captain Linhider looked over with a frown. "Comparison?"
Alister opened his eyes and looked over to the Captain, "Comparable to G'Char, but...artificial and massive. Only explanation is a vessel of sorts."
Captain Linhider hit a switch, connecting her to Lord Admiral Jikan.
"Lord Admiral, you should have received reports of multiple subspace disturbances around us; hit and run tactics. However, my Ghost here is telling me, that a large spatial disturbance occurred in the area not to long ago, and it could possibly be a ship. We...I will make sure you're up to date on that, but its still speculation. Speculation that worries me nonetheless. Will keep this line open."
Linhider looked back to Alister.
"Mr. Alister, you better hope its just random cosmic feckup."
Alister quirked a brow, "Captain, I am an intelligence operative. My job is not to be wrong. I understand the sentiment nonetheless."
* * *
"Survived...that is an understatement," Liala said. "But hold on and listen to the Captain."
"AIs, we have "fallen" into whatever the HRA forces utilize as FTL travel and it happens to be a brutal nightmare. We have somehow managed to stay mostly unscathed from the creatures and forces that reside here, but I doubt we can last long...and I feel that I am slowly going mad."
Captain Nikoli stopped and Liala started up.
"Whatever they travel through has weird psychokinetic influences, because our Ursan specimen and those in the Captain have been reacting to the environment. The few nonhuman crew that we have, with recessive psychokinetic genes, have gone...mad, themselves and had to be put to sleep. This in turned caused our ship to be further attacked from the place. We can only guess that they must require psy-adept people powerful enough to navigate through that band of FTL. That is not all though. General insanity and psychosis is washing through the crew and only a few have been hanging on with the exception of myself."
"What we need from you, is the dynamics of your shielding or something similar to what you displayed back in Calypso," stated Captain Nikoli."It will bid us time, to escape where ever we are. Thankfully, even they can not detect us, but if we don't escape soon, we may find ourselves falling prey to the demons here."
"Once that is done, we kinda..." Liala trailed off, and tried to mumble the rest of her sentence. "Kinda need you to open up your communications network and allow be to cross-link between this ship and my own to find a navigation point, after you've completed a highly focused spatial explosion in the FTL subspace corridor, down to the microsecond!"
Liala covered her face, knowing what she had asked.
Rear Admiral Albus nodded, with folded hands. "Very good. Hmmm, seems they are going for a hit and run approach."
The Rear Admiral looked over the tactical layout and went over several strategies before choosing the one he wished.
"All hands, this is the Flag. You should now be aware of the multiple hit and run boats, probing our defenses. Groups 1.1 and 2.1 will increase their defense throw weight by 50% in the direction of their weapon paths and initiate immediate pursuit of the vessels. Groups 3.1 and 4.1 will cover our flank see that a secure escape is left for us. To the Terelian forces, we will be proceeding directly to the planet without delay. Troops will not hit the ground until AFTER all space/air capabilities have been properly reduced."
The link closed and Rear Admiral Albus took up a seat.
"Communications, began signalling HRA forces to immediately surrender. All fighters should be launched by now. And all ships may commence bombardment of orbital installations."
The orders went out and were acknowledged.
* * *
Mr. Alister was seated at a station nearby Captain Linhider, his eyes closed and his fingers slowly moving along the keyboard inputting data.
"There are a number of subspace disturbances Captain," Alister stated.
"Good, good to know we can see them," Linhider said.
"But that is a minor issue. There is something else. Powerful fluctuations. There's a presence on the ground...human of course. But there's something bigger. Something that seemed to have ripped through a spatial point," stated Alister.
Captain Linhider looked over with a frown. "Comparison?"
Alister opened his eyes and looked over to the Captain, "Comparable to G'Char, but...artificial and massive. Only explanation is a vessel of sorts."
Captain Linhider hit a switch, connecting her to Lord Admiral Jikan.
"Lord Admiral, you should have received reports of multiple subspace disturbances around us; hit and run tactics. However, my Ghost here is telling me, that a large spatial disturbance occurred in the area not to long ago, and it could possibly be a ship. We...I will make sure you're up to date on that, but its still speculation. Speculation that worries me nonetheless. Will keep this line open."
Linhider looked back to Alister.
"Mr. Alister, you better hope its just random cosmic feckup."
Alister quirked a brow, "Captain, I am an intelligence operative. My job is not to be wrong. I understand the sentiment nonetheless."
* * *
"Survived...that is an understatement," Liala said. "But hold on and listen to the Captain."
"AIs, we have "fallen" into whatever the HRA forces utilize as FTL travel and it happens to be a brutal nightmare. We have somehow managed to stay mostly unscathed from the creatures and forces that reside here, but I doubt we can last long...and I feel that I am slowly going mad."
Captain Nikoli stopped and Liala started up.
"Whatever they travel through has weird psychokinetic influences, because our Ursan specimen and those in the Captain have been reacting to the environment. The few nonhuman crew that we have, with recessive psychokinetic genes, have gone...mad, themselves and had to be put to sleep. This in turned caused our ship to be further attacked from the place. We can only guess that they must require psy-adept people powerful enough to navigate through that band of FTL. That is not all though. General insanity and psychosis is washing through the crew and only a few have been hanging on with the exception of myself."
"What we need from you, is the dynamics of your shielding or something similar to what you displayed back in Calypso," stated Captain Nikoli."It will bid us time, to escape where ever we are. Thankfully, even they can not detect us, but if we don't escape soon, we may find ourselves falling prey to the demons here."
"Once that is done, we kinda..." Liala trailed off, and tried to mumble the rest of her sentence. "Kinda need you to open up your communications network and allow be to cross-link between this ship and my own to find a navigation point, after you've completed a highly focused spatial explosion in the FTL subspace corridor, down to the microsecond!"
Liala covered her face, knowing what she had asked.
"Lord Admiral, you should have received reports of multiple subspace disturbances around us; hit and run tactics. However, my Ghost here is telling me, that a large spatial disturbance occurred in the area not to long ago, and it could possibly be a ship. We...I will make sure you're up to date on that, but its still speculation. Speculation that worries me nonetheless. Will keep this line open."
Jikan frowned slightly, "A ship? Hm... sensors, what can you pick up?"
"Faint eddies... a fleet jumped in here not long ago, but we aleady knew that... well, a fleet or a really big ship." The sensor officer said.
"Troubling. The Shipyard and the rest of the fleet won't get here for a few weeks yet... time to bring out the big guns." Jikan said, "All ships, pick your targets and open fire, be careful. I'm not singing any songs today if I can help it." The Lord Admiral got off of his chair and paced restlessly, "Prioritise possible command ships, orbital facilities and surface instalations are secondary targets unless they're weapons platforms."
He then nodded, "If the Coalition start looking as if they're going to land troops, advise them that Terelain doctrine stipulates that we avoid groundside combat where possible and utilise orbital bombardment... tell them to get their men clear if they want our help with the groundside facilities."
"Aye sir." The comms officer said.
The Terelin fleet began opening fire on the nearest HRA vessels and installations, pouring forth plasma, energy and dense ballistics material, their fighters, bombers and drones launching to engage their own targets.
Aelya and Thyr, meanwhile, had stepped away from each other, their tails disentangling and dropping their hands by their sides, it seemed as if they had completed their seperation, "Hm... the schematics for the adaptive shield might need a little tweaking, to use a foreign energy source..." Aelya's eyes went a little distant for a moment, then nodded, "Hm... should do it. I'll send the plans to you now."
Thyr was frowning at Liaa's second request, "You're asking us to... blow a hole in subspace?" He tilted his head and his tail twitched, "Which might blast a hole between the Cascade and the Aether, or even into realspace, and allow all those horrors to come through?"
"There's a damn good reason why we don't use that place." Aelya said, "Not to mention the shockwave might destroy our ship too... there's a slight possibility that it might take out this system's star too if we time it wrong in the wrong place. We're also engaged with the HRA right this minute, so we're all a little taxed at the moment." She sighed heavily, "But... we'll see what we can do. I don't like it, but I'm not leaving you trapped in a place only slightly less nasty than the Void."
Thyr shook his head, "This is the second most risky plan I've ever been involved in." The ancient AI smiled slightly, "By the way, Chief, once things have calmed down I think we have a few things to discuss." He tilted his head at Liala and Nikoli, "Without eavesdropping aliens."
Aelya tuned to him and frowned, "Thyr?" Then her eyes widened a little, "Hang on, what exactly did you get from our merger?"
"Nothing too classified, Chief. I'll wipe the memory files later, don't worry. Still, I did pick up a thing or two I found rather interesting. When we're done blowing things up, I think we should discuss old times," The AI smirked slightly, "Particularly that conversation that was conveniently deleted from all of my memory files."
The other AI fowned, "Yes... we'll discuss it. Later."
Jikan frowned slightly, "A ship? Hm... sensors, what can you pick up?"
"Faint eddies... a fleet jumped in here not long ago, but we aleady knew that... well, a fleet or a really big ship." The sensor officer said.
"Troubling. The Shipyard and the rest of the fleet won't get here for a few weeks yet... time to bring out the big guns." Jikan said, "All ships, pick your targets and open fire, be careful. I'm not singing any songs today if I can help it." The Lord Admiral got off of his chair and paced restlessly, "Prioritise possible command ships, orbital facilities and surface instalations are secondary targets unless they're weapons platforms."
He then nodded, "If the Coalition start looking as if they're going to land troops, advise them that Terelain doctrine stipulates that we avoid groundside combat where possible and utilise orbital bombardment... tell them to get their men clear if they want our help with the groundside facilities."
"Aye sir." The comms officer said.
The Terelin fleet began opening fire on the nearest HRA vessels and installations, pouring forth plasma, energy and dense ballistics material, their fighters, bombers and drones launching to engage their own targets.
Aelya and Thyr, meanwhile, had stepped away from each other, their tails disentangling and dropping their hands by their sides, it seemed as if they had completed their seperation, "Hm... the schematics for the adaptive shield might need a little tweaking, to use a foreign energy source..." Aelya's eyes went a little distant for a moment, then nodded, "Hm... should do it. I'll send the plans to you now."
Thyr was frowning at Liaa's second request, "You're asking us to... blow a hole in subspace?" He tilted his head and his tail twitched, "Which might blast a hole between the Cascade and the Aether, or even into realspace, and allow all those horrors to come through?"
"There's a damn good reason why we don't use that place." Aelya said, "Not to mention the shockwave might destroy our ship too... there's a slight possibility that it might take out this system's star too if we time it wrong in the wrong place. We're also engaged with the HRA right this minute, so we're all a little taxed at the moment." She sighed heavily, "But... we'll see what we can do. I don't like it, but I'm not leaving you trapped in a place only slightly less nasty than the Void."
Thyr shook his head, "This is the second most risky plan I've ever been involved in." The ancient AI smiled slightly, "By the way, Chief, once things have calmed down I think we have a few things to discuss." He tilted his head at Liala and Nikoli, "Without eavesdropping aliens."
Aelya tuned to him and frowned, "Thyr?" Then her eyes widened a little, "Hang on, what exactly did you get from our merger?"
"Nothing too classified, Chief. I'll wipe the memory files later, don't worry. Still, I did pick up a thing or two I found rather interesting. When we're done blowing things up, I think we should discuss old times," The AI smirked slightly, "Particularly that conversation that was conveniently deleted from all of my memory files."
The other AI fowned, "Yes... we'll discuss it. Later."
"Surrender? They dare tell us to surrender? Well, you remember what they said at Bastogne? It was a marvelous battle. Like us, surrounded on all sides, with no way out. Patton's 3rd probably will come to save us, but until then, give them the famous reply that will echo just as long as that reply did," Matt ordered, and sat back, a smile on his face. The scanners began picking up enemy ships moving into their trap. He saw a few ships go down instantly, but the bigger ships began holding out. Now they were coming out of their hiding spots, and retreating to the moon. "NUTS!"
Duke smiled, and sent the message. Along with some rather large weaponry. The Hellraiser cannons open fired first, sending huge shells filled with explosives and mustard gas to the enemy lines. They began opening up the VLS modules, sending Valkarie missiles targeting the more delicate weapons, like their main weapons, and their bombardment weapons.
The Lance weapons began aiming at the Terelian fleet with almost eerie precision, carefully aiming and firing the weapons. From below, the deadly missiles loaded up, and fired. They were like Saturn Vs, but much much faster and harder to hit. And they were packed with death, each one.
"Launch the fighters! Create the deadliest screen of metal anyone has ever seen!" Matt ordered. That's when the sight of something rather interesting and new came about.
Like locus, the doors of the hanger bays opened up. Hundreds of fighters began pouring out, and just as much bombers. They sent off towards the capital ships, loaded with torpedoes and deadly lance and projectile weaponry.
Duke smiled, and sent the message. Along with some rather large weaponry. The Hellraiser cannons open fired first, sending huge shells filled with explosives and mustard gas to the enemy lines. They began opening up the VLS modules, sending Valkarie missiles targeting the more delicate weapons, like their main weapons, and their bombardment weapons.
The Lance weapons began aiming at the Terelian fleet with almost eerie precision, carefully aiming and firing the weapons. From below, the deadly missiles loaded up, and fired. They were like Saturn Vs, but much much faster and harder to hit. And they were packed with death, each one.
"Launch the fighters! Create the deadliest screen of metal anyone has ever seen!" Matt ordered. That's when the sight of something rather interesting and new came about.
Like locus, the doors of the hanger bays opened up. Hundreds of fighters began pouring out, and just as much bombers. They sent off towards the capital ships, loaded with torpedoes and deadly lance and projectile weaponry.
Liala wiped the holographic recording of Nikoli's request from the cyberspace and plopped down on a chair.
"Well, seeing as I can't communicate with the Valhalla, I'm under strict orders not to make my presence known to Coalition forces, and that situation won't be handled much soon....guess I'm stuck here!"
She crossed her legs and looked at the two.
"And what exactly is this secret you guys are trying to hid? I am really really trying to retrain myself from taking a peek," Liala quipped with a smile.
* * *
"Rear Admiral, the enemy has responded to our order for them to surrender," called out a communications tech.
"With missiles and projectiles I assume?" Rear Admiral Albus stated, dryly. "I expected as much. Priority shift. Saturate identified sources of high radio signals with bunker busters and EMPS. Then move on to secondary targets. We won't waste time, placing troops planetside. There is little worth here."
Eyes lingered on the nonchalant and callous attitude of the Rear Admiral, but no one questioned him.
"Communication," Albus said, his old, faded color eyes drifting toward the young officer, as the Dante's Inferno began to rock. "Notify the Terelians, they are to not indiscriminate, and authorized complete weapons free in eradicating all hostiles on the planet. Causalities are to be...expected."
The communications officer nodded and attended to his task.
"Thirty minutes from planetary orbit. Large force of fighters and bombers inbound, along with multiple indications of missiles and projectiles targeting the taskforce," reported the intelligence officer.
Rear Admiral Albus sighed.
"Keep formation. All ships be sure to clear a path proper. Launch conventional nukes and follow with the X-BPLs," he ordered.
"Well, seeing as I can't communicate with the Valhalla, I'm under strict orders not to make my presence known to Coalition forces, and that situation won't be handled much soon....guess I'm stuck here!"
She crossed her legs and looked at the two.
"And what exactly is this secret you guys are trying to hid? I am really really trying to retrain myself from taking a peek," Liala quipped with a smile.
* * *
"Rear Admiral, the enemy has responded to our order for them to surrender," called out a communications tech.
"With missiles and projectiles I assume?" Rear Admiral Albus stated, dryly. "I expected as much. Priority shift. Saturate identified sources of high radio signals with bunker busters and EMPS. Then move on to secondary targets. We won't waste time, placing troops planetside. There is little worth here."
Eyes lingered on the nonchalant and callous attitude of the Rear Admiral, but no one questioned him.
"Communication," Albus said, his old, faded color eyes drifting toward the young officer, as the Dante's Inferno began to rock. "Notify the Terelians, they are to not indiscriminate, and authorized complete weapons free in eradicating all hostiles on the planet. Causalities are to be...expected."
The communications officer nodded and attended to his task.
"Thirty minutes from planetary orbit. Large force of fighters and bombers inbound, along with multiple indications of missiles and projectiles targeting the taskforce," reported the intelligence officer.
Rear Admiral Albus sighed.
"Keep formation. All ships be sure to clear a path proper. Launch conventional nukes and follow with the X-BPLs," he ordered.
Aelya shook her head, "It is none of your concern, Liala. It has no bearing on the tactical or operational effectiveness of this ship, the Fleet or Coalition forces. It is a... private matter between myself and Euthyra."
"I just discovered a little memory of a conversation we had near the end of the Second Great War... which was missing fom my memory files." Euthyra smiled slightly, "I doubt a conversation that happened millennia ago is of any interest to you, but to me..."
"I had to take steps to ensure that your judgement would not be compromised during the final stage of the offensive." Aelya told him, "But we will discuss this later, when we're not in the middle of a battle. Speaking of which, analysis of incoming projectiles?"
"Rather pathetic actually. They seem to think going ast will protect their projectiles from our defensive systems." Thyr chuckled, "I think it's time to stop pulling our punches."
On the bridge, Jikan had recieved the message from the HRA, "Nuts?" He asked mildly, "What a most strange reply. Perhaps it is somekind of HRA insult. A rather childish and pathetic one at that." The Lord Admiral smiled, "But, if that's how they want to play it..."
"Sir, incoming projectile weaponry. They're using some kind of energy lance weaponry too... and a large number of bombers and fighters." The sensor officer said.
"Well, the shields can take rcae of those little pinpricks. Have the cariers open fire on the strike craft. Shred them." Jikan orderde, "Have the point-defence turrets aim for the missiles and torpedoes."
"Aye sir. Anti-fighter weaponry, aim for the incoming craft" The comms officer ordered.
The two Isaia-class Carriers opened fire on the incoming fighters wil a hail of weaponsfire, lasers lanced out into the cloud, tuning this way and that to carve a path through the fighters and bombers, whilst ballistics munitions exploded into guided-mines and missiles, tracking and exploding with deadly shrapnel effects.
The impacts of the HRA Lance weaponry on the shields of the larger vessels didn't do much good, the shields being specifically designed to adapt to and neutralise enemy energy weapons as soon as they impacted the shields. The point-defense weapons opened fire themselve son the incoming missile weapons, trying to stop them impacting the shields to prevent them from overwhelming the adaptive programming and overloading the shields.
"All ships, return fire." Jikan ordered calmly, "Priority target group A-7, choose your own secondary targets."
The Terelain ships opened up a withering barrage of energy weaponsfire, backed-up by the rail-guns mounted on the larger ships. They seemed to be prioritising the Hellraiser and her escorts, but the other parts of the HA fleet also came under fire.
"Try to ditract them, don't allow them to focus their fire on the capital ships." Jikan ordered, "All fighters combat launch. Take out the enemy strike craft, screen the bombers as they begin their attack run on the enemy cruisers."
"Sir, incoming transmission, heavily encrypted. Can't detect the source." His comms officer said.
"Activate the holo." Jikan said.
A female feline, her fur pale cream and white, dressed in what seemed to be a very expensive gown appeared on the hologaphic screen that appeared at the front of the bridge, "Greetings, Lord Admiral. My name is Bastet. The Shadow-Walkers have been scouting this region for a few months now. The HRA have established a base on a jungle planet in this system, it appears to be some kind of lab. Probably a weapons lab of some kind. Your fleet is hereby ordered to prioritise the destruction of this instalation, above and beyond your current orders. However, we believe the flagship of he fleet you are presently engaged with is the flag of a significant official in the HRA government. The destruction or capture of this individual is similarly prioritised. My people will render assistance where possible." she smiled slightly, "Though you might not notice us. Bastet out."
Jikan stared at the bulkhead where the holo had been a moment earlier, "If... that was Bastet... then were is her sister?" He frowned, "No matter. You heard the lady. Relay our altered orders to the fleet."
"Aye sir." His comms officer replied.
"I just discovered a little memory of a conversation we had near the end of the Second Great War... which was missing fom my memory files." Euthyra smiled slightly, "I doubt a conversation that happened millennia ago is of any interest to you, but to me..."
"I had to take steps to ensure that your judgement would not be compromised during the final stage of the offensive." Aelya told him, "But we will discuss this later, when we're not in the middle of a battle. Speaking of which, analysis of incoming projectiles?"
"Rather pathetic actually. They seem to think going ast will protect their projectiles from our defensive systems." Thyr chuckled, "I think it's time to stop pulling our punches."
On the bridge, Jikan had recieved the message from the HRA, "Nuts?" He asked mildly, "What a most strange reply. Perhaps it is somekind of HRA insult. A rather childish and pathetic one at that." The Lord Admiral smiled, "But, if that's how they want to play it..."
"Sir, incoming projectile weaponry. They're using some kind of energy lance weaponry too... and a large number of bombers and fighters." The sensor officer said.
"Well, the shields can take rcae of those little pinpricks. Have the cariers open fire on the strike craft. Shred them." Jikan orderde, "Have the point-defence turrets aim for the missiles and torpedoes."
"Aye sir. Anti-fighter weaponry, aim for the incoming craft" The comms officer ordered.
The two Isaia-class Carriers opened fire on the incoming fighters wil a hail of weaponsfire, lasers lanced out into the cloud, tuning this way and that to carve a path through the fighters and bombers, whilst ballistics munitions exploded into guided-mines and missiles, tracking and exploding with deadly shrapnel effects.
The impacts of the HRA Lance weaponry on the shields of the larger vessels didn't do much good, the shields being specifically designed to adapt to and neutralise enemy energy weapons as soon as they impacted the shields. The point-defense weapons opened fire themselve son the incoming missile weapons, trying to stop them impacting the shields to prevent them from overwhelming the adaptive programming and overloading the shields.
"All ships, return fire." Jikan ordered calmly, "Priority target group A-7, choose your own secondary targets."
The Terelain ships opened up a withering barrage of energy weaponsfire, backed-up by the rail-guns mounted on the larger ships. They seemed to be prioritising the Hellraiser and her escorts, but the other parts of the HA fleet also came under fire.
"Try to ditract them, don't allow them to focus their fire on the capital ships." Jikan ordered, "All fighters combat launch. Take out the enemy strike craft, screen the bombers as they begin their attack run on the enemy cruisers."
"Sir, incoming transmission, heavily encrypted. Can't detect the source." His comms officer said.
"Activate the holo." Jikan said.
A female feline, her fur pale cream and white, dressed in what seemed to be a very expensive gown appeared on the hologaphic screen that appeared at the front of the bridge, "Greetings, Lord Admiral. My name is Bastet. The Shadow-Walkers have been scouting this region for a few months now. The HRA have established a base on a jungle planet in this system, it appears to be some kind of lab. Probably a weapons lab of some kind. Your fleet is hereby ordered to prioritise the destruction of this instalation, above and beyond your current orders. However, we believe the flagship of he fleet you are presently engaged with is the flag of a significant official in the HRA government. The destruction or capture of this individual is similarly prioritised. My people will render assistance where possible." she smiled slightly, "Though you might not notice us. Bastet out."
Jikan stared at the bulkhead where the holo had been a moment earlier, "If... that was Bastet... then were is her sister?" He frowned, "No matter. You heard the lady. Relay our altered orders to the fleet."
"Aye sir." His comms officer replied.
"Sir, the Lance weapons did nothing! They were absorbed!" Duke shouted back at Matt, and he stared into the screen, redirecting defensive weapons fire. The automatic turrets of the bombers did their best to cancel out the enemy point defense weapons, firing equally charged lance weaponry into the lasers fired. To further increase their defensive capabilities and chance at survival, they ran between ships, and released their payloads.
The deadliest of the bombers was NOT the area bombers dispatched for the capital ships, or even the ever accurate Missile Bombers. No, it was probably the Torpedo Bombers, loaded with their newest torpedoes. These went straight for the carriers, if there was any. Their objective? Lock on, drop their payloads, and destroy the ship.
The Area Bombers went for the large battleships, and the Missile Bombers aimed at the command ships, or some other miscellaneous ships. They primed a large missile, locked on, and dropped it, before running off. Still, many blew up in space, shattered by the lasers.
Now the bigger problem. Coalition missiles, most likely nuclear, were being sent in retaliation. Not only that, but they Terelian Fleet was targeting the HELLRAISER. That made Matt a little nervous, as it should. His strategy? Move back the ship behind a wall of lesser cruisers and direct the battle from there, alternating between Nova Cannons on the Battleships.
Still, the Hellraiser was hit, and hit hard. The shields immediately began to fail as nearly every single enemy weapon hit it's shields with Railgun and Energy weaponry. He had to do something, but what? Then he got it. Distract them, and retreat to the planet. That would surely help.
"Attention HRA ships. Two battle cruisers, volunteers accepted, are ordered to distract the enemy. I repeat, this is a vital defense tactic. I need them to drive a wedge down the middle of the fleets, firing off their weapons as fast as they can. After that, blow the drives. It should be enough to shake them for a bit while the rest of the Fleet can escape to the CDCD. Until then, the Forge World has been primed," Matt ordered, and forgot about the missiles.
"INCOMING!!!!" Duke shouted, and the first cruiser nearby was hit by a nuclear warhead. The shields adapted, the windows darkened, and a blazing fireball that lasted less than half of what it was supposed to, ripped through the dark. The ship was destroyed completely, ripped in half, and burning apart. "HOLY SHIT!!"
"Fire the Nova Cannon!" Charlie shouted. The ship moved back as two Nova Cannon shells from the two guns open fired, sending large projectiles across the space into the enemy combined fleets.
The deadliest of the bombers was NOT the area bombers dispatched for the capital ships, or even the ever accurate Missile Bombers. No, it was probably the Torpedo Bombers, loaded with their newest torpedoes. These went straight for the carriers, if there was any. Their objective? Lock on, drop their payloads, and destroy the ship.
The Area Bombers went for the large battleships, and the Missile Bombers aimed at the command ships, or some other miscellaneous ships. They primed a large missile, locked on, and dropped it, before running off. Still, many blew up in space, shattered by the lasers.
Now the bigger problem. Coalition missiles, most likely nuclear, were being sent in retaliation. Not only that, but they Terelian Fleet was targeting the HELLRAISER. That made Matt a little nervous, as it should. His strategy? Move back the ship behind a wall of lesser cruisers and direct the battle from there, alternating between Nova Cannons on the Battleships.
Still, the Hellraiser was hit, and hit hard. The shields immediately began to fail as nearly every single enemy weapon hit it's shields with Railgun and Energy weaponry. He had to do something, but what? Then he got it. Distract them, and retreat to the planet. That would surely help.
"Attention HRA ships. Two battle cruisers, volunteers accepted, are ordered to distract the enemy. I repeat, this is a vital defense tactic. I need them to drive a wedge down the middle of the fleets, firing off their weapons as fast as they can. After that, blow the drives. It should be enough to shake them for a bit while the rest of the Fleet can escape to the CDCD. Until then, the Forge World has been primed," Matt ordered, and forgot about the missiles.
"INCOMING!!!!" Duke shouted, and the first cruiser nearby was hit by a nuclear warhead. The shields adapted, the windows darkened, and a blazing fireball that lasted less than half of what it was supposed to, ripped through the dark. The ship was destroyed completely, ripped in half, and burning apart. "HOLY SHIT!!"
"Fire the Nova Cannon!" Charlie shouted. The ship moved back as two Nova Cannon shells from the two guns open fired, sending large projectiles across the space into the enemy combined fleets.
The Terelain drones and interceptors met the incming bombers with a hail of fire, the carriers themselves were outfitted with a very large amount of PD weaponry to off-set their lack of large guns, and each of the Isaia cariers unleashed a storm of beam and ballistic weapons against any HRA craft that tried to get in attack range, as well as tagetting missiles and torpedoes heding for the carriers. Some of the frigates and cruisers shielding the carriers came in to assist, attempting to intercede with their own point-defense fire.
Still, they couldn't hit them all and a torpedo found the Bow of The Huntress penetrating her shields and tearing a hole in her hull, the emergency bulkhads sealed, but th damage was done, the ship listed to one sie for a long minute bfore the crew could right it, and one of the hangar bays had been totally destroyed.
"Sir! Two enemy battlecruisers are on approach, they're trying to run interference for the enemy flag." The sensor officer of the Terelain flagship said.
"They'll be trying to retreat. Keep on them." Jikan ordered, "Subgroup Tahran, take out those battlecruisers."
Six cruisers and twelve frigates accelerated into firing range of one of the battlecruisers and opened fire on it, trying to stop it befoe it could get close enough to interdict itself between the Fleet and the Hellraiser, at the same time one of the Dreadnoughts targeted the second battlecruiser nad opened fire on it. The hope was that they could bth be destroyed before they could pose a danger to the fleet and force the Terelains to shift focus away from the HRA flagship.
"Terenen! The enemy glagship just opened fire! Those guns are huge!" The sensor officer said.
"Seige guns, utilised to devastate planetay surfaces. Could pose significant theat to the Fleet." Aelya reported to the Lord Admiral.
"Concentrate your PD fire to the incoming projectiles"Jikan ordered, "Redirect power to shields all of you! Disperse the fleet. Brace for impact."
The faster and more fragile Terelain cruisers and frigates tried to accelerate away from what they thought might be the blst radius of a Novasell, still firing on the nearest HRA target even as they shifted to an evasive pattern. The slower capital ships tried to pull away, redirecting sme of their fire towards the projectiles and strengthening the shields.
A couple of the Terelain frigates nd cruisers succumbed to enemy fire as they switched attention from the bombers to the other threat and exploded with flashes of radiation and debris, several more recieved damage as bombs and missiles tore through shields and hull.
Still, they couldn't hit them all and a torpedo found the Bow of The Huntress penetrating her shields and tearing a hole in her hull, the emergency bulkhads sealed, but th damage was done, the ship listed to one sie for a long minute bfore the crew could right it, and one of the hangar bays had been totally destroyed.
"Sir! Two enemy battlecruisers are on approach, they're trying to run interference for the enemy flag." The sensor officer of the Terelain flagship said.
"They'll be trying to retreat. Keep on them." Jikan ordered, "Subgroup Tahran, take out those battlecruisers."
Six cruisers and twelve frigates accelerated into firing range of one of the battlecruisers and opened fire on it, trying to stop it befoe it could get close enough to interdict itself between the Fleet and the Hellraiser, at the same time one of the Dreadnoughts targeted the second battlecruiser nad opened fire on it. The hope was that they could bth be destroyed before they could pose a danger to the fleet and force the Terelains to shift focus away from the HRA flagship.
"Terenen! The enemy glagship just opened fire! Those guns are huge!" The sensor officer said.
"Seige guns, utilised to devastate planetay surfaces. Could pose significant theat to the Fleet." Aelya reported to the Lord Admiral.
"Concentrate your PD fire to the incoming projectiles"Jikan ordered, "Redirect power to shields all of you! Disperse the fleet. Brace for impact."
The faster and more fragile Terelain cruisers and frigates tried to accelerate away from what they thought might be the blst radius of a Novasell, still firing on the nearest HRA target even as they shifted to an evasive pattern. The slower capital ships tried to pull away, redirecting sme of their fire towards the projectiles and strengthening the shields.
A couple of the Terelain frigates nd cruisers succumbed to enemy fire as they switched attention from the bombers to the other threat and exploded with flashes of radiation and debris, several more recieved damage as bombs and missiles tore through shields and hull.
Rear Admiral Albus was quite pleased with himself, as he watched the Triple Ripple strategy swat the enemies' small craft from the space, and heavily damage their small vessels.
"Sir, the enemy look to be retreating!"
The Rear Admiral nodded and was about to give an order, when alarms sounded all around.
"They've fired two rounds from their Mass Accel Cannons!" yelled an intelligence analyst.
"All ships, evasive maneuvers, focus on the bearers of those weapons!"
The Coalition Taskforce, seemed to slightly skew apart, as the much faster and nimble ships evaded out the way of the Nova Cannon projectiles, while also staying to protect their charge. The four battleships in the fleet poured out tremendous firepower toward the originator of the incoming projectile, while trying to lumber away, alongside the battle carrier.
It was a failure.
The projectiles, smashed through the Coalition Taskforce, and tore directly into the flagship Dante's Inferno. Explosions tore through the battlecarrier, from stern to bow, and she went lurching off course. The Flag Deck was nonexistent, and command began to transfer down the Chain of Command. The Captain of the Dante's Inferno tried to get a reign on everything, including is mauled ship, but it was too late. Secondary explosions tore through the ships munitions storage and soon he went burst apart, sending large hull chunks into space.
Other ships tried to evade the horrible wreckage. A few cruisers, werent so lucky as one was blinded sided by a shift piece of hull, and another was sandwiched between two still exploding pieces.
The other projectile went blazing into one of the defending battlships, and merely a few minutes later, its primary core, failed and the ship went boom in a horrible blaze. The carnage and maelstorm of destruction wasn't over, as another battleship was caught in the explosion and went smashing into fleeing cruisers and destroyers.
The cohesion of the Coalition Taskforce, suddenly disappeared and all was hectic.
* * *
"Initiate evasive maneuvers! Avoid that debris!"
"WARNING! WARNING! COLLISION ALERT!"
"Hostile small craft are moving in!"
"Dante's Inferno is gone! Several cruisers are gone! Two battleships out of commission!"
Captain Jin Linhider, aboard the Sabre, listened to the reports with gritted teeth and unadulterated horror. She couldn't believe what was happening. She couldn't believe in the most prime of moments the taskforce just...gave up.
Government Representative and Oversight Officer Marcus Tanner had rushed to the command deck, and his eyes held open in horror at what he witnessed.
"What is the status of the Taskforce CoC!?" Linhider called out, as she tried to get a large overview of the tactical situation.
"Unknown," Sabre-Liala responded in lieu of the more busy officers. "It seems there is a high level of confusion going on."
"You think!" Linhider snapped back. "What was the last order of the Rear Admiral's?"
Sabre-Liala accessed a logs and gave a direct playback of Rear Admiral Albus' last orders.
"Priority shift. Saturate identified sources of high radio signals with bunker busters and EMPS. Then move on to secondary targets. We won't waste time, placing troops planetside. There is little worth here. Notify the Terelians, they are to not indiscriminate, and authorized complete weapons free in eradicating all hostiles on the planet. Causalities are to be...expected."
"He did NOT order us to commence an orbital bombardment?! And state there is little worth here?" quipped Captain Linhider.
"He did Captain, and he also gave authorization to the Terelians," responded Sabre-Liala. "I agree with your sentiment that, he may be in violation of a number of things, however considering HRA forces and their methods..."
Overseer Marcus came over and looked at Captain Linhider.
"What was the Rear Admiral's last order Captain?"
Captain Linhider played back the visual record and Overseer Tanner watched in silence, his mouth stitched shut, his face pale, and his eyes seemingly slowly fading into the distance.
He turned away to look at the firefight that was occurring on the viewscren. Tanner couldn't believe what he was hearing. Another military bastard, killing off more of his own people, more humans without a bat of an eye. That is exactly why Albus was put in charge of the taskforce in the first place, to avoid this. To make sure humanity was at the forefront at all decisions.
But...
"Captain Linhider...you are to take command of what's left of the taskforce," he said not turning to face her. "You are to take command. You are to commence with the orbital bombardment of the planet and its surrounding moons. Then you are to immediately withdraw from this system."
Captain Linhider rose from her chair, "What?! You are actually advocating this!? I will NOT fire on Coalition people."
"Captain. You will do so. You will carry out the order. It must be done. It will be done. It has been done."
Mr. Alister looked up from his board, having blocked out most of the conversation. "He is correct Captain. Most of the ships have already launched EMPS, bunker busters and others ordinances toward the planet."
Captain Jin Linhider couldn't believe the insanity of this all. Someone back at command was getting to pay for this.
"Also," Mr. Alister locked eyes with Linhider. "What ever you wish, you might want to do so soon, because that large subspace warp I told you about, is registering again. And its growing."
Linhider sat down in her chair, and grasped at the rest until her knuckles went white. She sat there for a moment, then finally made up her mind.
"Send out the alert. Priority shift. Bomb the planet, and make sure we bomb those hostile sons of bitches to hell. Navigation sent up a course trajectory to the nearest jumpout point. Liala, use the tactical laser link, to make sure everyone's fully up to date."
"Sir, the enemy look to be retreating!"
The Rear Admiral nodded and was about to give an order, when alarms sounded all around.
"They've fired two rounds from their Mass Accel Cannons!" yelled an intelligence analyst.
"All ships, evasive maneuvers, focus on the bearers of those weapons!"
The Coalition Taskforce, seemed to slightly skew apart, as the much faster and nimble ships evaded out the way of the Nova Cannon projectiles, while also staying to protect their charge. The four battleships in the fleet poured out tremendous firepower toward the originator of the incoming projectile, while trying to lumber away, alongside the battle carrier.
It was a failure.
The projectiles, smashed through the Coalition Taskforce, and tore directly into the flagship Dante's Inferno. Explosions tore through the battlecarrier, from stern to bow, and she went lurching off course. The Flag Deck was nonexistent, and command began to transfer down the Chain of Command. The Captain of the Dante's Inferno tried to get a reign on everything, including is mauled ship, but it was too late. Secondary explosions tore through the ships munitions storage and soon he went burst apart, sending large hull chunks into space.
Other ships tried to evade the horrible wreckage. A few cruisers, werent so lucky as one was blinded sided by a shift piece of hull, and another was sandwiched between two still exploding pieces.
The other projectile went blazing into one of the defending battlships, and merely a few minutes later, its primary core, failed and the ship went boom in a horrible blaze. The carnage and maelstorm of destruction wasn't over, as another battleship was caught in the explosion and went smashing into fleeing cruisers and destroyers.
The cohesion of the Coalition Taskforce, suddenly disappeared and all was hectic.
* * *
"Initiate evasive maneuvers! Avoid that debris!"
"WARNING! WARNING! COLLISION ALERT!"
"Hostile small craft are moving in!"
"Dante's Inferno is gone! Several cruisers are gone! Two battleships out of commission!"
Captain Jin Linhider, aboard the Sabre, listened to the reports with gritted teeth and unadulterated horror. She couldn't believe what was happening. She couldn't believe in the most prime of moments the taskforce just...gave up.
Government Representative and Oversight Officer Marcus Tanner had rushed to the command deck, and his eyes held open in horror at what he witnessed.
"What is the status of the Taskforce CoC!?" Linhider called out, as she tried to get a large overview of the tactical situation.
"Unknown," Sabre-Liala responded in lieu of the more busy officers. "It seems there is a high level of confusion going on."
"You think!" Linhider snapped back. "What was the last order of the Rear Admiral's?"
Sabre-Liala accessed a logs and gave a direct playback of Rear Admiral Albus' last orders.
"Priority shift. Saturate identified sources of high radio signals with bunker busters and EMPS. Then move on to secondary targets. We won't waste time, placing troops planetside. There is little worth here. Notify the Terelians, they are to not indiscriminate, and authorized complete weapons free in eradicating all hostiles on the planet. Causalities are to be...expected."
"He did NOT order us to commence an orbital bombardment?! And state there is little worth here?" quipped Captain Linhider.
"He did Captain, and he also gave authorization to the Terelians," responded Sabre-Liala. "I agree with your sentiment that, he may be in violation of a number of things, however considering HRA forces and their methods..."
Overseer Marcus came over and looked at Captain Linhider.
"What was the Rear Admiral's last order Captain?"
Captain Linhider played back the visual record and Overseer Tanner watched in silence, his mouth stitched shut, his face pale, and his eyes seemingly slowly fading into the distance.
He turned away to look at the firefight that was occurring on the viewscren. Tanner couldn't believe what he was hearing. Another military bastard, killing off more of his own people, more humans without a bat of an eye. That is exactly why Albus was put in charge of the taskforce in the first place, to avoid this. To make sure humanity was at the forefront at all decisions.
But...
"Captain Linhider...you are to take command of what's left of the taskforce," he said not turning to face her. "You are to take command. You are to commence with the orbital bombardment of the planet and its surrounding moons. Then you are to immediately withdraw from this system."
Captain Linhider rose from her chair, "What?! You are actually advocating this!? I will NOT fire on Coalition people."
"Captain. You will do so. You will carry out the order. It must be done. It will be done. It has been done."
Mr. Alister looked up from his board, having blocked out most of the conversation. "He is correct Captain. Most of the ships have already launched EMPS, bunker busters and others ordinances toward the planet."
Captain Jin Linhider couldn't believe the insanity of this all. Someone back at command was getting to pay for this.
"Also," Mr. Alister locked eyes with Linhider. "What ever you wish, you might want to do so soon, because that large subspace warp I told you about, is registering again. And its growing."
Linhider sat down in her chair, and grasped at the rest until her knuckles went white. She sat there for a moment, then finally made up her mind.
"Send out the alert. Priority shift. Bomb the planet, and make sure we bomb those hostile sons of bitches to hell. Navigation sent up a course trajectory to the nearest jumpout point. Liala, use the tactical laser link, to make sure everyone's fully up to date."
"Get those troops off the ground, now! We can't afford that much of a loss! Well, we can, but I just don't want to. Get all the research off there, and make sure that the Direct Converter is shut down! If a shell that size got into the generator..." Matt shuttered, thinking of what something of that magnitude could do. It just wasn't something you wanted to see happen, no matter what. He thought about the decision he was about to make, and knew it was going to be the best. "Send in the Forge World."
The flagship moved out of the way of some of the incoming weaponry, but the rest smashed head on into the shields. Instantly, they began depleting, until there was none left. For the time being. Shells ripped into the armored metal hull, the secondary defenses trying desperately to minimize the damage. Still, there were places where the hull was smashed apart and ripped open.
"Sir! Sustaining heavy damage! Hanger bay 1 is in flames, decks 2 through 4 are breached, and have been shut off from the rest of the ship. Shields at 0%, close defense systems operation at half capacity, and long range weaponry working, but less accurate. Nova Cannons and ISBMs offline!" Duke shouted, directing the ship as far away as he could. It was moving back, farther and farther away. Ships around them were pelted with shells, and a few blew up.
Of the two cruisers inside enemy lines, one of them was shattered. Literally shattered. It blew up from a dozen missiles and shells, and the pieces of it were sent everywhere. The other one managed to get a few rounds off, but it's engines were shot to shit, and the ship ripped in half. But then, a round ripped through the engine block.
If it was a regular shell, it might have not done as much damage. But it was instead an energy round from the Terelians, and it caused major damage. The reactor went critical, like the Yorktown's did. The half that wasn't caught in the gravitational field imploded, and then, with a flash of bright light, incinerated, letting loose a massive wave of energy. The other half of the ship vanished from sight.
Down below, the Fortress's shields held out. For now. They weren't going to last very much longer if the enemy didn't let up. Fortunately, the other four layers were holding out fine. Once they were out, though, it was tough luck. Luckily, they had their own defenses.
From deep in the jungle, and in the mountain, huge Hellraiser Cannons, 20 footers, and missile launchers let off a series of deadly weaponry that would destroy cruisers with ease. 800mm turrets, and single 800mm guns looking like FLaK cannons, tore through the night, lighting up space itself. From the direct converter, lance batteries were linked up, and fired out their own payload of high energy weapons.
And the other planets? They were being glassed. Civilians and soldiers died alike, each minute, more and more leaving this world.
The flagship moved out of the way of some of the incoming weaponry, but the rest smashed head on into the shields. Instantly, they began depleting, until there was none left. For the time being. Shells ripped into the armored metal hull, the secondary defenses trying desperately to minimize the damage. Still, there were places where the hull was smashed apart and ripped open.
"Sir! Sustaining heavy damage! Hanger bay 1 is in flames, decks 2 through 4 are breached, and have been shut off from the rest of the ship. Shields at 0%, close defense systems operation at half capacity, and long range weaponry working, but less accurate. Nova Cannons and ISBMs offline!" Duke shouted, directing the ship as far away as he could. It was moving back, farther and farther away. Ships around them were pelted with shells, and a few blew up.
Of the two cruisers inside enemy lines, one of them was shattered. Literally shattered. It blew up from a dozen missiles and shells, and the pieces of it were sent everywhere. The other one managed to get a few rounds off, but it's engines were shot to shit, and the ship ripped in half. But then, a round ripped through the engine block.
If it was a regular shell, it might have not done as much damage. But it was instead an energy round from the Terelians, and it caused major damage. The reactor went critical, like the Yorktown's did. The half that wasn't caught in the gravitational field imploded, and then, with a flash of bright light, incinerated, letting loose a massive wave of energy. The other half of the ship vanished from sight.
Down below, the Fortress's shields held out. For now. They weren't going to last very much longer if the enemy didn't let up. Fortunately, the other four layers were holding out fine. Once they were out, though, it was tough luck. Luckily, they had their own defenses.
From deep in the jungle, and in the mountain, huge Hellraiser Cannons, 20 footers, and missile launchers let off a series of deadly weaponry that would destroy cruisers with ease. 800mm turrets, and single 800mm guns looking like FLaK cannons, tore through the night, lighting up space itself. From the direct converter, lance batteries were linked up, and fired out their own payload of high energy weapons.
And the other planets? They were being glassed. Civilians and soldiers died alike, each minute, more and more leaving this world.
"Sir! The Coalition fleet has taken a couple of direct hits... their flagship is down, and two of their remaining battleships have been severely damaged... numerous cruiser and destroyer casualties. Their forces in disaray." The comms officer reported, "Captain Linhinder is taking over authority."
"The enemy shells?" Jikan asked
"We were luckier... the Bow of the Huntress reports moderate damage to her external hull, but few breaches, two dreadnoughts report moderate to severe damage to secondary systems, but they can still fight... no direct hits." The comms said, "I don't think we'd weather another salvo of those cannons.... just in sir... the humans authroise full orbital bombardment of the planetary surface... collateral damage acceptable."
Jikan nodded, "Order the dreadnoughts to open fire with their main guns, concentate on the enemy complex... fighters are to hunt down and destroy any smallcraft attempting to reach orbit, the cruisers areto target larger hips. I want every single one of those HRA scum turned to ash, understood?"
"Aye sir." The comm officer said, turning to reay the admiral's orders.
"The rest of the fleet... arget ships with the large cannons... take them down. Try and break through the defensive screen around the enemy flag." Jikan ordered, "The Tia'Ren's Light is to open fire with everything she's got. We're the most powerful warship in the Grand Fleet, let's show them what that means. I'd like to bring the enemy commander to Aerin in chains... watching him get spaced will have to do."
"Sir, the enemy flag seems to be retreating, she's taking heavy damage." His sensor officer reported.
"Keep on him... don't let them escape." Jikan ordered quickly.
"Enemy surface-to-space weaponry is opening fire... energy weapon, but majority are mass driver and missile based. The force assigned to planetary assault is trying to hold, but we'll take heavy losses at this rate." The sensor officer said.
"Damn it..." He hesitated a moment, "Break off the chase... let the enemy flag and its retinue go... turn us around, target the enemy weapons installations and open fire. Tell the rest of the fleet to do the same, but if you see a chance to hit an evac ship... take it. The heavier the losses for them, the better."
"Aye sir, all ships this is the flag, concentrate fire on enemy surface-to-orbit weapons installations, enemy ships preferred secondary target... enemy installation tertiary target, once the enemy defenses are neutralised resume prior orders."
"The enemy shells?" Jikan asked
"We were luckier... the Bow of the Huntress reports moderate damage to her external hull, but few breaches, two dreadnoughts report moderate to severe damage to secondary systems, but they can still fight... no direct hits." The comms said, "I don't think we'd weather another salvo of those cannons.... just in sir... the humans authroise full orbital bombardment of the planetary surface... collateral damage acceptable."
Jikan nodded, "Order the dreadnoughts to open fire with their main guns, concentate on the enemy complex... fighters are to hunt down and destroy any smallcraft attempting to reach orbit, the cruisers areto target larger hips. I want every single one of those HRA scum turned to ash, understood?"
"Aye sir." The comm officer said, turning to reay the admiral's orders.
"The rest of the fleet... arget ships with the large cannons... take them down. Try and break through the defensive screen around the enemy flag." Jikan ordered, "The Tia'Ren's Light is to open fire with everything she's got. We're the most powerful warship in the Grand Fleet, let's show them what that means. I'd like to bring the enemy commander to Aerin in chains... watching him get spaced will have to do."
"Sir, the enemy flag seems to be retreating, she's taking heavy damage." His sensor officer reported.
"Keep on him... don't let them escape." Jikan ordered quickly.
"Enemy surface-to-space weaponry is opening fire... energy weapon, but majority are mass driver and missile based. The force assigned to planetary assault is trying to hold, but we'll take heavy losses at this rate." The sensor officer said.
"Damn it..." He hesitated a moment, "Break off the chase... let the enemy flag and its retinue go... turn us around, target the enemy weapons installations and open fire. Tell the rest of the fleet to do the same, but if you see a chance to hit an evac ship... take it. The heavier the losses for them, the better."
"Aye sir, all ships this is the flag, concentrate fire on enemy surface-to-orbit weapons installations, enemy ships preferred secondary target... enemy installation tertiary target, once the enemy defenses are neutralised resume prior orders."
Captain Linhider was drained. Completely tired as she tried her best to assert order the chaotic mess that was the Coalition taskforce.
"Ma'am," called out her Intelligence Officer. "Hostile forces seem to be retreating back to the planet. And planetary weaponry are being used as their cover. Terelian forces are turning their attention to the hostiles still near."
Jin massaged her temple as the Sabre shook from incoming weapons fire.
"Orders still stand. Bomb the planet, indiscriminate targeting. Make sure there is a priority list of those with high enemy threat and weapon installations."
She studied her tactical screens and the data from the Terelains that somehow managed to continue through the laser link.
"Liala," she called out. "What do you make of this assessment, if we keep on our current course trajectory?"
The Captain punched in a few commands, and Sabre-Liala simply waited a few before she was finished. She put her hands in her on her hips and reviewed the data.
"A lot of our people will die," she said rather bluntly, without her usual cheery flair. "However, if we want to get to that jump point and continue to blow up that planet, then this is the best way."
"You think this is stupid, don't you?" Linhider asked.
"Yes Ma'am," Sabre-Liala responded, before wiping away her digital screen and looking at her. "But you already knew I'd agree."
"Yes Liala," the Captain said with slight relief. "I do because I think so to. I just needed someone else to say it. What are your recommendations?"
Sabre-Liala smiled devilishly, "Its one I sent out to all the ships exactly five minutes ago. I set up a course that will allow us to continue to bomb the planet for the next thirty minutes, and then loop around the sun to the Lagrange point for jump out the system. At that time, the planet's orbit should be bring it toward us, so we will get another chance to continue our bombardment, but it won't be long before we start facing those high causality rates."
"I knew I liked you Commander," Linhider nodded. "Good plan. The sun should block their scanners and give us ample time to situate ourselves. And should there be any stragglers to come chasing us, we can smash em."
Captain Jin Linhider nodded once again.
"Comms, notify Lord Admiral Jikan the change in our plans and prepare to receive the necessary data. Mr. Alister?"
"One moment Captain," the Ghost Alister said, as he fingered the keyboard at the intelligence station, eyes closed. "I am still picking up that power fluctuation, but having a hard time pinpointing it, if that's what you are meaning to ask."
"Yes," Linhider admitted, "But also what of-"
"The hit and run craft are still there Captain," He cut in. "However they appear to be holding a line, to respond to strays or those attempting to chase after their retreating vessels."
"That's good to know, and what-"
Mr. Alister opened his eyes and stared blankly at the Captain, sending chills down her side.
I am sorry Captain, but at this moment, I can not continue to waste energy or my attention to verbally respond to you. Because of the severity of having lost a large number of our Ghosts, those still alive have to sacrifice much of our external functions to keep with links we've established. Should relevant data come my way, you will surely see it Captain. I assure you.
With that Mr. Alister returned to his console station and closed his eyes.
"Well...thank you Alister," Linhider responded.
She turned her head to see Overseer Marcus Tanner still on the command deck, eyes scanning the holodisplay table behind her. He looked up and caught her gaze.
"You did what you had to do, for the sake of humanity Captain. We all have to pull the trigger someday."
Straightening himself up, he placed his hands behind his back and made for the lift, without a word.
Captain Jin Linhider didn't know what it was, but there was something even more off about the Overseer than usual and she couldn't shake that what he said meant far more than it sounded.
"Ma'am," called out her Intelligence Officer. "Hostile forces seem to be retreating back to the planet. And planetary weaponry are being used as their cover. Terelian forces are turning their attention to the hostiles still near."
Jin massaged her temple as the Sabre shook from incoming weapons fire.
"Orders still stand. Bomb the planet, indiscriminate targeting. Make sure there is a priority list of those with high enemy threat and weapon installations."
She studied her tactical screens and the data from the Terelains that somehow managed to continue through the laser link.
"Liala," she called out. "What do you make of this assessment, if we keep on our current course trajectory?"
The Captain punched in a few commands, and Sabre-Liala simply waited a few before she was finished. She put her hands in her on her hips and reviewed the data.
"A lot of our people will die," she said rather bluntly, without her usual cheery flair. "However, if we want to get to that jump point and continue to blow up that planet, then this is the best way."
"You think this is stupid, don't you?" Linhider asked.
"Yes Ma'am," Sabre-Liala responded, before wiping away her digital screen and looking at her. "But you already knew I'd agree."
"Yes Liala," the Captain said with slight relief. "I do because I think so to. I just needed someone else to say it. What are your recommendations?"
Sabre-Liala smiled devilishly, "Its one I sent out to all the ships exactly five minutes ago. I set up a course that will allow us to continue to bomb the planet for the next thirty minutes, and then loop around the sun to the Lagrange point for jump out the system. At that time, the planet's orbit should be bring it toward us, so we will get another chance to continue our bombardment, but it won't be long before we start facing those high causality rates."
"I knew I liked you Commander," Linhider nodded. "Good plan. The sun should block their scanners and give us ample time to situate ourselves. And should there be any stragglers to come chasing us, we can smash em."
Captain Jin Linhider nodded once again.
"Comms, notify Lord Admiral Jikan the change in our plans and prepare to receive the necessary data. Mr. Alister?"
"One moment Captain," the Ghost Alister said, as he fingered the keyboard at the intelligence station, eyes closed. "I am still picking up that power fluctuation, but having a hard time pinpointing it, if that's what you are meaning to ask."
"Yes," Linhider admitted, "But also what of-"
"The hit and run craft are still there Captain," He cut in. "However they appear to be holding a line, to respond to strays or those attempting to chase after their retreating vessels."
"That's good to know, and what-"
Mr. Alister opened his eyes and stared blankly at the Captain, sending chills down her side.
I am sorry Captain, but at this moment, I can not continue to waste energy or my attention to verbally respond to you. Because of the severity of having lost a large number of our Ghosts, those still alive have to sacrifice much of our external functions to keep with links we've established. Should relevant data come my way, you will surely see it Captain. I assure you.
With that Mr. Alister returned to his console station and closed his eyes.
"Well...thank you Alister," Linhider responded.
She turned her head to see Overseer Marcus Tanner still on the command deck, eyes scanning the holodisplay table behind her. He looked up and caught her gaze.
"You did what you had to do, for the sake of humanity Captain. We all have to pull the trigger someday."
Straightening himself up, he placed his hands behind his back and made for the lift, without a word.
Captain Jin Linhider didn't know what it was, but there was something even more off about the Overseer than usual and she couldn't shake that what he said meant far more than it sounded.
"SIR! The shields are failing! Level one is down! I repeat, level one is down!" The sergeant in charge of the shields and early warning systems reported. The levels were displayed on the screen of the control center, and Vladimir knew what that meant. They were getting close to the point of evacuation. Even the ammunition levels were slowly going down, a sign that meant they wouldn't last very long.
"Evacuate the unnecessary men to a glassed planet close by. One that was wiped clean. That means, every infantry, all the tanks, everything, get them out. For the tanks and space marines, use the converted U-Boats. For everything else, use the smaller carriers." Vladimir ordered, and looked around. "Get the workers with them, too. Anyone that is of no use, go. My honor guard and I will stay,"
They nodded, and began to move fast. The gunfire increased when the first transport left, but they didn't really need to worry. Those couldn't be seen with ease. They clapped when they noticed it escaped a stray shell. The news went out: First transport is out.
The fleet above began splitting in thirds, each going one way. The main battleship fleet began moving straight backwards, and the other two fleets flew sideways, and would regroup soon. But they knew what they were doing.
In that space they created, a warp hole opened up. A massive one. Big enough for a small fleet.
(sorry for the short reply. Working on limited internet here)
"Evacuate the unnecessary men to a glassed planet close by. One that was wiped clean. That means, every infantry, all the tanks, everything, get them out. For the tanks and space marines, use the converted U-Boats. For everything else, use the smaller carriers." Vladimir ordered, and looked around. "Get the workers with them, too. Anyone that is of no use, go. My honor guard and I will stay,"
They nodded, and began to move fast. The gunfire increased when the first transport left, but they didn't really need to worry. Those couldn't be seen with ease. They clapped when they noticed it escaped a stray shell. The news went out: First transport is out.
The fleet above began splitting in thirds, each going one way. The main battleship fleet began moving straight backwards, and the other two fleets flew sideways, and would regroup soon. But they knew what they were doing.
In that space they created, a warp hole opened up. A massive one. Big enough for a small fleet.
(sorry for the short reply. Working on limited internet here)
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