| Author |
Defender of Cephid |
Doran
Chief Marshal
Galactic Navy
Joined: March 29, 2003
Posts: 4032
From: The Gideon Unit
|  Posted: 2010-02-05 12:56
not mine, just reposting from distant past
This is the personal account of Admiral Owen, at the time Ensign, and his lone successful defense of the Cephid system during the Third Colonies War against the K’Luth.
I’ve been sent to patrol the Cephid System, a remote backwater colony of the Confederation of Free Worlds. It doesn’t seem like much is going on around here, but I’m sure brass has its reasons.
A blip appears on my HUD; it’s coded yellow for unknown contact. Its probably just one of our ships, but to be safe I bring my A-2 Osprey interceptor up to speed and set my heading to intercept the contact. I get within 300 kilometers and the contact disappears. This is not good; immediately I think: cloaking device. Supposedly only K’Luth ships possess cloaking technology, so I bring the reactive shields online and begin charging weapon systems and move in for a closer look. However, the contact doesn’t reappear. “I wonder if this is a probe for a larger K’Luth force”, but I dismiss the thought. It is very unlikely that a large K’Luth force would strike in this quadrant. It was probably a United Worlds surveillance craft doing a fly by, or more likely a smuggler.
I set my course back to the core of the Cephid star system. The unknown contact appears again inside the system. I think, “either the radar system needs an overhaul, or this ship slipped past me cloaked.” The elusive contact is now in orbit around Cephid II, a populated terran world, and also the location of Camp Schwartzkopff, one of five basic training Marine Corps stations. I bring my interceptor up to full thrust and close on the intruder. However, the ship evades contact, and breaks orbit and jumps out before I can close within strike range.
Certain this was a enemy probe, I send a subspace transmission to the flagship, “Cephid has most likely been scanned by an unidentified contact, attack possible.” Hopefully help will arrive soon; there is no way I can stop anything more than a couple of scouts without support. I short-jump to the system core, so I can defend the system from any direction.
It doesn’t take long before four new contacts appear just outside the system. My pulse begins to race as I kick in the interceptor’s afterburner to get the contacts into IFF sensor range. Moments later, the IFF scanner detects that there is a squadron of scavenger class K’Luth space bombers armed with 12,000 pound bio-plasm cluster bombs that wreak massive destruction streaking on a course towards Cephid II.
“Damn, K’Luth bombers!”
I send an emergency transmission to fleet command and all vessels in the area. This force was sent to shatter Cephid II defenses. Fleet “pings” back to me shortly thereafter saying, “The main body of the fleet has just encountered a large K’Luth armada heading towards the Howard system and we are on an intercept trajectory with the enemy force. The Howard system is a strategic key to holding the K’Luth presence at bay in addition to being a free trade route link way. Fleet then ended the message saying they would try to send a support wing to assist ASAP. ETA ten minutes...
“ETA is ten damn minutes! This isn’t going to be pretty,” I sighed.
I increase my velocity to maximum thrust and set off to intercept the K’Luth bombers. The bombers have already begun their attack run, but they are too far out to release when I close in on weapons range. I unleash a spread of four fusion torpedoes at the lead bomber, it attempts evasive maneuvers, but with a six ton bomb hanging off the underbelly, the maneuver is futile. Two torpedoes slam into the fuselage, and the ship erupts in a brilliant green flare, which also engulfs another bomber.
The other two scavengers manage to slip past my salvo and return fire. The space around me is rippling with glowing ribbons of anti-spacecraft plasma bolts. I begin evasive action as adrenaline surges through my body. I close quickly, but they are already breaking off. My warning sensors blare to life, signifying that the two remaining K’Luth craft have just released their lethal payload, and then changed course, heading away from Cephid II.
“I must try to take the bombs out before they impact.”, I thought. They take priority over destroying the two remaining K’Luth bombers, so I break engagement from the two fleeing craft and target the bio-bombs.
“ Where the hell are the reinforcements!” I scream into my radar. I target my particle cannon and fire a three-bolt burst at the bombs managing to take one out, but the other bomb descends into the atmosphere of Cephid II. I stare at the planet for what seems like forever hoping a sub orbital defense satellite zaps it out of the stratosphere before it can cause any significant damage, but moments later I see several rolling, ominous, bright yellow green shockwaves ripple over the surface of the planet.
I quickly bring up the status of Cephid II, half of it’s defense network is down and the casualty rate will probably be astronomical. The bombers have done their job.
I send another urgent message to the flagship, “Cephid II hit with Space to Ground heavy bio munitions, I repeat, Cephid II hit with Bio weapons. The defense network is crippled, major population centers destroyed. I say again, Cephid II is crippled, situation critical!” The flagship soon responds with “Support element en route, ETA six minutes, hold on as long as you can.”
Minutes later, four more enemy contacts appear on my HUD, two “mussel” transports and two “widow” class escorts. A sense of dread washes over me, as I know these escorts outclass my ship. The only hope is to delay the invasion until help arrives, so I bring my ship to full throttle and set a course running perpendicular to the invaders vector. I begin laying EMP proximity mines on their course heading hoping to disable the invading force, which apparently got their attention because both escorts broke from formation in pursuit of my ship.
My little diversion seems to be working, the transports are forced to change their heading, and the “widows” break formation and head towards my position. The lead escort launches a “Hellhound” ion emissions guided missile. Fortunately, the Cephid system is also inhabited with nebulas; a natural ECM and safe cover from the most energy and guided weapons. I fly into the nebula, and power down the particle cannon and torpedo tubes offline. The “Hellhound” guidance systems go haywire when it enters the nebula and is rendered ineffective tumbling through gaseous space away from me.
“Whew, that was close”, I croaked.
They follow me into the nebula, bad mistake on their part. I bring my Gauss cannon online, an outdated weapon that propels magnetically charged depleted uranium alloy rods at supersonic speed, and very effective inside nebulas. I turn hard directly into the escorts, they attempt to fire but their energy weapons ignite the gases and short out the weapons systems. I lock the gauss cannon on the bridge of the first unfortunate escort and take out the command and control center.
“That should keep him busy for a while.” I growled.
The second escort realizes what is happening and attempts to accelerate out of the nebula, but I fall in right behind it and pepper the engines hoping to penetrate the buffer plate and puncture the core. Soon I see the telltale signs of escort’s engine core overloading with trails of ionized particles streaming out of the riddled engines.
“I hope that buys me enough time”, I whisper, as I emerge from the nebula and reactivate all weapon systems.
The transports have navigated around the EMP minefield, and heading directly towards Cephid II. “I would love to see the look on those squids’ faces as I came barreling out of the nebula without the escorts in pursuit.”
I’m on them well before they orbit Cephid II, lining the lead transport up for a torpedo straight up its six. The transports immediately engage in evasive maneuvers and vector back home. It’s a good thing, because I emptied all of the rods on the escorts, the particle cannon was still in flux from flying through the nebula, and I only had two torpedoes left in the tubes.
I breathe a sigh of relief, and “ping” fleet, “ Two legless widows at sector 21 and I sent the buses back home, I repeat, the buses are going home.” Three CFW cruisers warp in shortly thereafter and mop up the escorts.
My comm. console flickers on and I receive an official subspace transmission from HQ that I’ve been promoted to Wing leader and I will be upgraded to the new Banshee class tactical interceptor. Despite that, I’ll stick with this old Osprey for a while, it has served me well.
_________________
|
Ulven Skyblade
Marshal
Non Omnis Moriar
Joined: March 04, 2007
Posts: 230
From: Timbo400
| Posted: 2010-02-05 13:08
bit short. but not bad
_________________
The more you see, the more you read, the more you hear, the more you know that you know nothing. And that the truth is nothing more then a personal judgment on the world around us by the people around us.
|
Pakhos[+R]
Chief Marshal
Pitch Black
Joined: May 31, 2002
Posts: 1352
From: Clean room lab
| Posted: 2010-02-05 13:16
Really fun to read.
_________________
* Josef hands [PB]Quantium the Golden GothThug award for best melodrama in a miniseries...
[-GTN-]BackSlash: "Azreal is a master of showing me what is horribly broken in the game."
|
|
English
Deutsch
Nederlands
)
