| Author |
III. The Enemy of my Enemy |
Kenny_Naboo
Marshal
Pitch Black
Joined: January 11, 2010
Posts: 3823
From: LobsterTown
|  Posted: 2010-12-22 21:59
Consumed by fire. Then expanding in anger like a rapidly evolving star. Finally, fading away into nothingness.
Tal'nesh watched the exploding UGTO cruiser on his display. Seated... or rather, melded... in the cockpit of his *Larvae* class fightercraft, he scanned local space for any remaining threats. He found nothing, save for some scattered escape pods and debris from once intact starships. Satisfied, he comm'ed for his recon flight to return to base.
"Commander, we will proceed to destroy the Hoonam parasites' escape pods!", one of his wingmates broadcasted. Three Larvaes broke off and aligned themselves for strafing runs on several of the pods. "No! Return to the Thal'Enk immediately.", Tal'nesh willed. There was no point in further killing an already defeated enemy. The fighter wing returned to formation and together they turned back towards the Chal'Noth, a Thal'Enk (Hive) class station that was cloaked 5000 GUs off the dark side of Erebuni. Relaxing the formation, the fighters spread out 500 meters apart. Finally out of thought range of his comrades, Tal'nesh wondered about the number of lives that had been extinguished in the battle today. Such a waste. Whether K'luth or Human, it was the same. Wasted lives in a war that could have been avoided. All because of that mistake at Sirius a long time back.
Earlier in the week, they had destroyed a small ICC fleet after their engagement with a UGTO force. Sneaked up on them, and then hit them hard after they had stood down from alert following a battle where they defeated the UGTO. And now, they had just destroyed most of a UGTO fleet and sent the rest fleeing after they had come to retake the planets nearby known to them as the Fargo cluster.
All this for revenge. Revenge for their recent occupation of *Oymvre*. Sector Commander Yid'kan Tal had made it clear enough. The Human parasites would pay for every second they had spent on that icy world... His homeworld! True enough, the K'Luth had retaken Oymvre after an extended siege. But the cost in lives, ships, and infrastructure demanded a hefty payback. The Humans, in their retreat, had razed much of the planet's infrastructure and had also attempted to execute as many of the occupied/captive K'Luth population as they could.
It was apparent that the Human condition viewed any species other than their own as less than sentient. In their eyes, K'Luth were beneath Humans, and eradicating Oymvre's population wasn't considered genocide. What was that word again? 'Lobster'. A species of non-sentient marine crustacean from their homeworld, Earth. That was their derogatory colloquial for the K'Luth, his people. Racist, no doubt.
Still, despite that, today's deaths bothered Tal'nesh. His encounter with his Human contacts from their espionage division had shown him that not all Humans were like that. In fact, he had developed a strange sort of connection, a friendship even, with a couple of his human 'employees'.
"*Larvae* flight, you are cleared for docking on Chal'Noth Thal'Enk. Main bay.", the broadcast from the Hive interrupted his train of thoughts. In thought range again, he stowed his personal musings aside and guided his squadron in for docking on the cloaked station.
[ This Message was edited by: Kenny_Naboo[+R] on 2010-12-22 22:08 ]
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Kenny_Naboo
Marshal
Pitch Black
Joined: January 11, 2010
Posts: 3823
From: LobsterTown
| Posted: 2010-12-22 22:01
One week later: The fringes of Luyten 726-8 A
Tal'nesh was riding shotgun in the bridge of a Geresh'Nota (Advanced Carrier) class transport. He rose from the navigator seat and headed aft to the hold. A small UGTO civilian transport had just jumped within 300 GUs of his ship. Decloaking, the Carrier opened its aft bay and the small civvy transport entered the rear of the K'Luth ship. As the docking hatch closed and sealed itself, the K'Luth carrier once against faded from view.
The docking procedure completed, the Human crew of the small civilian ship alighted into the huge hold of the Advanced Carrier. Tal'nesh could only grin (if his expression could be considered one) at the two Humans as they approached him. "Tal'Nesh, it's good to see you again", offered one of the Humans.
Tal'Nesh was one of the few K'Luth Artisans who had been able to adapt to speaking in the human tongue, which made him especially suited for his role as an Intelligence Officer. Humans were a species that were still 'asleep', unable to communicate psionically. K'Luths used vocal communications more as a supplement or support to their ability to 'talk' telepathically. Hence, humans couldn't interpret anything of their spoken language beyond what seemed to them a series of roars or grunts. There was an art to it of course, thought Tal'Nesh, but it was beyond the Humans to pick up the inflections and subtle pitch changes in the K'Luth tongue.
"Greetings, Hauser.", Tal'Nesh rumbled in his bassy, gravelly tone, "it is good to see you too. What have you brought for us this time?"
Tal'Nesh genuinely liked his two agents. Over the years, they had proven to be reliable... amiable even. The intel provided by the agents had not only assisted the K'Luth in military operations, but also given the them valuable insights into the human psyche. They were paid very well for services rendered, which also assured their continued loyalty.
"Well, for one, your little picnic at the Fargo cluster has gotten the UGTO High Command's panties in a bunch.", Hauser grinned. "They're just about ready to shell you and cook you in a lovely cream pasta". Tal'Nesh widened an eye at the comment, digesting it for a moment. These humans and their metaphors...
"What I meant was, they're gonna be looking to get back at you guys for kicking their asses... er, destroying their fleets, back at Fargo", Hauser reiterated. Tal'Nesh grunted. Ah yes, he got that part about 'kicking their asses'. He was getting the hang of it, eventually.
Hauser continued, "So it seems that Gardevoir has assigned Hellinger to 'look into' the matter, so to speak." Tal'Nesh nodded. UGTO had decided to assign their top admirals into striking back at the K'Luth. Jessica Gardevoir and James "Bad News" Hellinger. He remembered going through their files a few months back after Hauser obtained the dossiers. Tough and resourceful commanders, considered elites by their peers. He would have to report this back to Yid'kan Tal later. Hauser went on, "Not only that. Lucious Calgarii has requested the ICC Admiralty for additional ships for some kind of expeditionary force. You might want to explore that avenue too. You guys must've really pissed them off with that sneak attack."
Tal'Nesh growled, "It was necessary. We sent them a message that they would pay a price in blood for their attacks on our worlds. But, it also seems that the situation has now... how do you say ..."
"Escalated?", Hauser offered.
"Yes, escalated. Escalated into something that we may not be able to control.", Tal'Nesh mused.
Hauser shrugged, "Well, you should've thought of that before you guys decided to hit them both while they were busy at each other's throats. That's like a stab in the back. Hell, you shoulda just hit Sol and CD36 while you were at it. Taking out Bitfrost and Shi Jie would've set them back years!" Hauser chortled at his comment. Tal'Nesh narrowed his eyes at that. Something to consider...
The rest of the meeting covered other less pressing issues regarding UGTO/ICC ship movements and their logistics, particularly within the Sagittarius star cluster.
------------
It was decided that a best defense was a good offense. Strange how an old Human naval strategy would coincide with K'Luth principles. Some kind of divine comedy perhaps. Upon receiving Tal'Nesh's report, Yid'kan Tal had set into motion the deployment of several deep space supply bases in Epsilon Eridani's neighboring systems.
For days, scores of Vek'Noal (Ultimate Worker) class builders had been sent out to Tau Ceti, Luyten and R33 to construct the many supply platforms needed to support the K'Luth fleet buildup in those systems. For the time being, the fleet's orders were to just sit there, hidden, and observe the Human fleet movements for anything unusual or suspicious. They were to launch pre-emptive strikes on the Humans at the first sign of any massive deployments.
Tal'Nesh perused the reports. The UGTO was indeed bringing more ships from the Lacerta sector to Sagittarius quite rapidly. For days, recon scouts running deep into the Cincinnati system had reported numerous ships emerging from the Lacerta transfer gate then jumping straight for Happyland, a known UGTO shipyard.
The ICC was busy too. Recon overflights revealed a couple of Line Stations and a few Assault Dreads, together with their accompanying escorts coming from the Cassiopeia transfer gate and then transiting to Argrea.
It was becoming apparent that escalation was just the beginning, and a sign of things to come. Had they bit off more than they could chew? Holding off a ICC/UGTO assault on two fronts would be a daunting task. The K'Luth had enough ships in the sector to hold them off, but the resultant conflict would probably devastate all three factions to the point where any victory would simply be pyrrhic.
[ This Message was edited by: Kenny_Naboo[+R] on 2010-12-23 02:00 ]
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Kenny_Naboo
Marshal
Pitch Black
Joined: January 11, 2010
Posts: 3823
From: LobsterTown
| Posted: 2010-12-22 22:01
It happened on a dull day on Aeceru Quintavus, Kaus Borealis. ICC Planetary sensors detected a bogie jumping in within 1500 GUs of the planet. It was huge; station-sized, and approaching the planet not squawking any IFF nor responding to ident requests.
The only ships protecting the planet were a couple of frigates that happened to be far out on patrol on the fringes of the system. So they were unable to respond in time as the planet comm'ed them a short, garbled distress call before jamming reduced all transmissions to complete hash. It wouldn't have mattered anyway.
Back on Aeceru, the planetary population had nowhere to run and could do nothing but perish horribly as a lance of light from the huge interloper hit the surface. It spread out like a tidal wave of devastation that ran from pole to pole, rendering everything it washed over into subatomic particles.
When both Attack Frigates jumped back to Aeceru Quintavus, one of them emerged from its FTL flash straight into the enormous green hulk of the bogie that had just fired upon the planet. The frigate disintegrated in a short lived explosion which was then unceremoniously brushed aside by the enormous vessel like dust off a sleeve. The second frigate lived long enough to see the bogie's enormous vertical crescent shaped hull and shot off a distress beacon in the direction of deep space just before several bright beams from the large ship converged onto it, turning it too into an incandescent ball of fragments.
The Longhead entered orbit as numerous other jump flashes lit up the vicinity of the planet.
It had begun.
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Kenny_Naboo
Marshal
Pitch Black
Joined: January 11, 2010
Posts: 3823
From: LobsterTown
| Posted: 2010-12-22 22:02
Tal'Nesh was awakened from his rest by the sudden flurry of mentations from his shipmates. Something was going on. He listened in and discerned that the ICC fleet at Argrea had mobilized and was leaving orbit. Perhaps this was it... the moment that they had been waiting for. He rose from his cot and walked out of his quarters, hurrying to the bridge of the Groz'elar Mol'Rak'Atar (Siphon) dreadnought. Entering the bridge, he greeted the ship's captain, Rel'Nazar, and asked about the current situation.
"It would appear, Commander, that the ICC fleet has moved out of spacedock", the ship's captain projected his thoughts. Tal'Nesh had just been appointed Chief Intelligence Officer for the entire sector and was tasked to be advisor for the fleet commander, Captain Rel'Nazar. He looked at the strategic display of the system and surmised, "Yes I can see that Captain. But if you've noticed, they seem to be heading towards the Kaus Borealis gate instead of towards us. Don't you find that a little unusual?"
The captain took another look at the display and growled an agreement. He thought out, "Yes, it would seem so. But could this be a Human trick? They could have detected our presence and are circling about the system, or perhaps even taking a roundabout route through the neighboring systems towards *Epsilon Eridani*."
Tal'Nesh pointed out, "Definitely not through UGTO space. In case you've missed that one out, Kaus Borealis only has one other gate to *Cincinnati*. So if the ICC are indeed going through that gate, then they are either attacking the UGTO in force, or they are amassing their forces over at *Kaus* for some inexplicable reason. I am inclined to think the latter, because right now their main focus is on us and not the UGTO." Again, the captain conceded and grunted his agreement.
One of the drones stationed at the communications panel mentally intoned, "My Lords, one of our scouts shadowing the ICC fleet has intercepted transmissions about their colony on Aeceru Quintavus being attacked. The ICC is sending a recon flight into *Kaus*." Tal'Nesh and the captain shared a look, then Rel'Nazar ordered, "Have that scout enter *Kaus Borealis* and follow their recon to find out what's going on. If the UGTO is attacking the ICC, then perhaps this presents another opportunity to hit them again while their attention is centered on each other."
The Hez'Rath (Talon) class scout Zel'Takh entered Kaus Borealis through the jump gate cloaked and immediately began a passive sweep of the system. There were no transmissions coming from the direction of the ICC colony at Aeceru. Strange, thought the Talon's commander. Still, he had to keep tabs on the ICC scout group that he was shadowing. He maintained a 400 GU distance behind the two Sensor Corvettes as they began their scan of the system. Watching his panel, the captain of the Talon monitored his ship signature levels carefully. Those scouts would be randomly firing off their sensors, perhaps even pinging. Losing operational secrecy at this stage could be fatal for his ship and himself.
Suddenly, a loud pinging sound came through the bridge audio. He growled a curse. By Y'Rath'Atar! He saw the large spike in his signature indicator. They definitely had him this time. He should have stayed over 500 GUs behind, but he was afraid of losing them. The lead Corvette immediately made a port sweeping turn, while the trailing corvette swung to starboard. They had detected him, and now they were spreading out to search for and attack him.
A few brilliant flashes lit up the space around the ICC Corvettes and several huge green crescent shaped ships jumped in. From the lead ship emerged a brilliant light show of beams and energy projectiles as it fired upon the trailing Corvette. It took only one salvo, and the little ship simply came apart into trails of short lived sparks, spreading itself out in the void. The lead Corvette managed to jink and avoided the energy torpedoes that were sent its way, but could not avoid the three or four sustained beam hits that collapsed its shields in seconds and seared its armor. Trailing drive plasma, it executed an emergency jump towards the Tau Ceti gate.
The Talon's captain unmelded himself from his seat and shot up to his feet. "Kraddax! Here?" A collective wave of alarm went through the entire ship as every crewmember picked up on his thoughts. He melded back into the seat and gave the order to reverse course back to the gate. "And keep running silent! We don't want the Kraddax to know we're here. We have to report back to the Fleet!".
The Talon turned back towards the gate at max velocity.
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Kenny_Naboo
Marshal
Pitch Black
Joined: January 11, 2010
Posts: 3823
From: LobsterTown
| Posted: 2010-12-22 22:03
Back in Tau Ceti, Tal'Nesh was beginning to get reports of UGTO fleet movements in Luyten and R33, all headed towards Cincinnati. Something was very very strange with the big picture here. It seemed like the UGTO and ICC buildup against the K'Luth were either falling apart, or they were suddenly going to meet each other in Kaus Borealis or Cincinnati for a major battle. No, it couldn't be. They wouldn't be battling each other right now. His intel was accurate, he was sure of it.
Next, reports came in from his recon force in Cincinnati that the UGTO fleet there was heavily engaged in a huge battle around No Water. Tal'Nesh scanned the map display and noted that the nearest gate to the planet led to Kaus Borealis. Doing the math in his head, he surmised that something had gone very very wrong in Kaus. He raised his head to the Captain, "Where was that Hez'Rath we sent to *Kaus Borealis*? Can we contact it?". He turned back to the strategic display, pondering at the sudden turn of events.
"My Lord", the communications officer interrupted a few minutes later, "Zel'Takh Hez'Rath is hailing us." The Talon that they sent to Kaus Borealis had returned and was trying to get through to them. Tal'Nesh opened a channel to the Talon and received the report from the now frantic captain, informing him of the MI attack on the ICC Corvettes in Kaus Borealis. At that same moment, Rel'Nazar received further news from his recon team of a big MI/UGTO battle happening at No Water.
A channel was immediately opened to Sector Commander Yid'kan Tal, informing him of the sudden unexpected situation. Yid'kan's initial reaction was one of amusement. He contemplated leaving the ICC and UGTO to their fates, maybe even attacking the Human survivors after the battle. "The Kraddax will keep them busy for now, perhaps even decimate their fleets.", he said. Tal'Nesh was a realist. "My Lord, if the Kraddax destroy the Humans, they will come for us next. Right now, the only thing standing between us and the Kraddax are the Humans. Whether we like it or not, we may have to consider... joining... the Humans in this fight. The enemy of my enemy...."
"... is my friend. Yes, yes, Tal'nesh, I have heard of that", Yid'kan pondered for a moment, irritated at the logic of it all. "You are to stand by. Do nothing until I have taken this to the clan elders." The transmission was cut. Tal'nesh watched the strategic display as the ICC fleet went into the Kaus Borealis jump gate. He didn't envy the Humans' situation. If the Kraddax managed to take them out, they would swarm through Tau Ceti and into Epsilon Eridani next. Could this be the beginning of the second K'Luth Exodus? He shuddered at the thought.
An hour later, Yid'kan Tal hailed the Groz'elar; "Very well, I am authorizing the fleet to attack the Kraddax in *Kaus Borealis*. We do not take any action in *Cincinnati* yet, unless the Kraddax appears to be defeating the UGTO there. Move your fleet through to *Kaus*. And Captain, Commander... don't ever forget. Look out for the Parasites' treachery... Watch your backs.", Yid'kan signed off.
The alert was passed through the ship and the entire K'Luth fleet. They were going into battle again against the ancient enemy.
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Kenny_Naboo
Marshal
Pitch Black
Joined: January 11, 2010
Posts: 3823
From: LobsterTown
| Posted: 2010-12-22 22:04
That same moment: Kaus Borealis, near the Tau Ceti Jumpgate.
CSS Matisse was firing a full broadside at the Praetorian class cruiser off her port flank. The ICC Combat Dread unleashed a storm of Ion Cannon and Railgun fire against the alien vessel. Damned thing seemed to be shrugging off the railgun shots. Only the Ion Cannon seemed to be giving it some grief. Admiral Allenby swore under his breath. Already, three Heavy Cruisers and a Combat Dread had been lost in the initial attack on the MI. And they hadn't even killed a single one of those damned mechanical monstrosities yet. This was not going well.
The ship vibrated as the shields absorbed another volley of energy torpedoes from the Praetorian. Something had to give soon. If these MIs broke through to Tau Ceti, millions were going to die. "Tactical, continue alpha strike on that Praetorian!". Next to the Matisse, the approaching Assault Dreads CSS Vanquish and Resilient joined in with sustained alpha strikes that finally hulled the MI Praetorian cruiser. Trailing blue plasma trails from breaches in its hull, the Praetorian tried to turn back towards the main body of the MI fleet. It finally succumbed to the combined fire of all three ICC dreads just a short while later, detonating in a huge explosion. Splash one bandit! That first kill seemed to raise the morale of the ICC fleet.
It was in that moment that three MI Longhead dreads jumped into the fray. Much larger than the other MI ships, their appearance took the entire ICC fleet by surprise. Unleashing their unimaginable fury upon the ICC, the three stationed sized vessels began slicing their way through the fleet ship by ship. A Heavy Cruiser was literally cut in half, followed by an Assault Cruiser and a Combat Destroyer being immolated simultaneously. Then another Heavy Cruiser fell to the three advancing MI heavies, vanishing in an expanding globe of destruction. Allenby ordered all nearby ships to focus fire on the lead Longhead, though he feared the worst. It seemed like it would take almost of them just to bring down one of those monsters, and then they would have two more to fight. And then again, there were still all the other Praetorians out there. The situation was starting to seem hopeless.
He heard Tactical shout, "Sir, we have a problem... thirty plus contacts just faded in on the scope, under 1000 GUs out! And the count is increasing. Type... organics. I think we've got Lobsters in the area!"
Allenby groaned. Dammit... and you'd thought this day could not possibly get any worse!
Onboard the Groz'elar, Tal'Nesh thought out, "Captain Rel'Nazar, commence the attack."
At the given signal, a torrent of stellar incinerator fire from the various K'Luth dreads fell upon the trailing Longhead. The MI vessel was powerful. More powerful than any other K'Luth or Human dreadnought one on one. But in this case, it was at least fifteen on one as the massive salvo of over 40 SI bolts caught up with and hit the closest Longhead in the stern, damaging it critically. Leaking drive plasma, with pieces of its hull breaking off, the wounded beast came around and began opening fire on the K'Luth fleet. With its jump drive destroyed, it had nowhere else to go but head on into the enemy. The second Longhead also detected the presence of the massive K'Luth force and began coming around with its wounded twin.
Their initial salvo spent, the K'Luth force fired up their ECMs and cloaked, altering course to surround the two incoming Longheads. Hit and run... then hit again. That was the plan. The cruisers separated from the dread force and began to work their way around the MI's flanks.
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Kenny_Naboo
Marshal
Pitch Black
Joined: January 11, 2010
Posts: 3823
From: LobsterTown
| Posted: 2010-12-22 22:04
Back aboard the Matisse, Allenby watched in complete amazement as the appearing K'Luth fleet fired on the trailing Longhead, damaging it severely before disappearing off his tac display again. What in blazes....? Dumbstruck. "Keep up fire on the lead Longhead!", he bellowed over the comms channel. Somehow the Lobsters seemed to be helping him. Helping him? Lobsters? He shook his head in disbelief. The Universe had truly gone insane, but he wasn't about to question his sudden change in fortune.
Tal'Nesh observed the tactical display as the K'Luth fleet manuevered themselves into an arc around the two Longheads. They would take out the damaged Longhead first before going to work on the remaining one. That was the best way; to quickly reduce the number of offensive weapons pointed at them. They could then work on the second Longhead after that.
They waited until the Longheads entered optimum firing range. Once in beam range, they could bring all their weapons to bear and kill the Kraddax monsters quickly. The damaged Longhead got to within 250 GUs of the formation. At that moment, the 30 odd cruisers and dreadnoughts decloaked and began to unleash alpha strikes one after another on the crippled Longhead. It went nova inside of 10 seconds, the resultant explosion and debris moderately damaging the second Longhead. Half of the K'Luth dreads then began concentrating fire on the remaining Longhead while the rest of the fleet engaged the Praetorians swarming in.
A Medresh (Scale) class cruiser became the first K'Luth casualty, gutted along its dorsal axis by a stream of continous fire from the remaining Longhead and a couple of other Praetorians. Tumbling out of control, it blew up right in the center, sending the remnants of its forward half spearing into a nearby Shal'Mar (Mandible) class dread, damaging it severely.
Under heavy fire from so many dreads, the Longhead trailed drive plasma from multiple hull breaches, its nanomites unable to keep up the repair rate against the rain of SI and disruptor fire being levelled against it. Ultimately, the Longhead vanished in an expanding cloud of superheated fragments, taking with it a couple of K'Luth cruisers caught in the huge blast radius.
Aboard the Groz'elar, Tal'Nesh noted that the last Longhead was in the red, being pummeled by the ICC fleet relentlessly. The communications officer notified him of an incoming message from Sector Command. Plugging himself into the ship, he received a report that their recon in Cincinnati had observed MI forces there turning back to Kaus Borealis gate... possibly in response to the K'Luth incursion. UGTO forces were in pursuit.
Captain Rel'Nazar picked up on the comms between Command and Tal'Nesh. "More trouble on the way, I suppose? We better get cloaked and regroup once the other Kraddax and Human fleets get insystem. You know these parasites... they'll fire on us once the Kraddax are..."
Rel'Nazar was cut off by a huge burst of light that appeared in between the ICC and K'Luth fleet, temporarily blinding those unlucky enough to have been looking out the viewports in that direction. In place of the flash appeared a huge spherical entity. Tal'Nesh roared in dismay as the massive profile of an MI Node station emerged out of jump. The enormous machine ship obviously had some kind of score to settle with their long time enemy. Completely ignoring the ICC fleet which was actually nearer to it, the Node began lashing out at the K'Luth fleet. Groz'elar's helmsman threw the huge dreadnought into a full left dive as Tactical detected the approach of multiple energy torpedoes from several hundred GUs away. They managed to avoid most of the salvo, but still took several hits along the dorsal hull. The Siphon responded with return PSI and SI fire. The rest of the K'Luth fleet began to manuever around the Node, firing on it with whatever they could. The huge MI station was going to take a lot of work to bring down.
Further back, a group of Kesh'Rath (Ganglia) class dreads opened up with a swarm of missiles and launched their fightercrafts. Multiple guided projectiles streaked through the cold void and found their mark against the Node's hull, the heavy Shock missiles causing the most damage. As the K'Luth pressed their assault on the Node, it eventually began to shed its armor from a combination of SIs and disruptors from the closer ranged assault dreads and long-ranged missile fire and from the Ganglias. The K'luth were also losing ships fast. Already two Mandibles and a few other cruisers had been lost in the huge battle around the Node.
"My Lord, multiple contacts coming through the Cincinnati gate.", Tactical informed Rel'Nazar. The Groz'elar was shaking from hit after hit by the defending Praetorians. Steadying himself, Tal'Nesh looked at the long range displays. The returning MI fleet had just poured through the Cincinnati gate. So many of them... he breathed. The rest of the bridge crew read his thoughts and looked worriedly at the display.
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Kenny_Naboo
Marshal
Pitch Black
Joined: January 11, 2010
Posts: 3823
From: LobsterTown
| Posted: 2010-12-22 22:05
Coming through the gate in pursuit of the apparently fleeing MIs, Admiral O'Leary could only stare mouth agape at what he saw on the Tac Panel. The ship count was over 100, all hostiles. From the IFF, he could pick out ICC, K'Luth, and MI ships. And everyone was shooting at everyone else, from what he was seeing. What the hell was going on??
"Tactical, gimme a sitrep. What in the hell is going on?!", he stared at the Tac Panel. The only good thing so far was that the retreating MI was running into the battle, and no one seemed to be shooting at the UGTO fleet so far. "Looks to be a three way fight, Sir.... wait, uh, actually... it seems like both the ICC and K'Luth are shooting at the MI." O'Leary studied the Tac Panel. It appeared to be an even fight at the moment, but the arrival of the MI force from Cincinnati would surely tip the balance over to the machines. The ICC and K'Luth were about to get their asses kicked big time.
O'Leary thought about it for a moment, then came to a realization. If that happened then there'd be no one, save the UGTO, to stop the MI from running through the sector. He didn't savor that thought. The battle at No Water had already cost him several cruisers and a few dreads in exchange for only a few MI cruisers and a Longhead. Almost all of his ships were at least moderately damaged. That kind of attrition was too much for even the UGTO to bear. No... they had to push these machines out from the Sag cluster. Better to face the ICC or K'Luth, than a horde of these nearly unstoppable AI monsters.
He barked orders for his battered fleet to target and engage the MI forces. The helmsman manuevered the UWS Antietam, UGTO Elite Assault Dreadnought, towards the battle area followed by the rest of the UGTO fleet. They began firing on the second MI fleet as they pursued them towards the ICC/K'luth/MI furball.
--------
"My Lords, incoming UGTO forces at the gate right behind the second MI fleet!", the tactical officer alerted both commanders. Rel'Nazar simply replied, "Continue the attack for now. If the UGTO moves to attack us, we cloak and withdraw." Outside, the battle raged on as space was brightly lit up by crisscrossing beams, bolts and explosions of dying ships.
400 GUs ahead, a Mandible, its jump drive dead and belching blue plasma trails from various hull breaches, started its suicide run against the Node, firing its weapons as it closed in. Right next to the Node that same moment, two Vel'Nakor (Scarab) class cruisers decloaked side by side as it was busy firing at the approaching Mandible. The Scarabs began deploying anti-matter mines against the Node's hull before breaking off, cloaking as they retreated. The mines detonated shortly after, tearing a huge gaping hole in the side of the already battered Node. The damage appeared to stun the Node temporarily as its weapons went silent.
The dying Mandible, escape pods streaming out its side, drove straight for the gigantic tear in the Node's hull... its weapons alight, driving home alpha after alpha. Three Praetorians attempted to intercept the massive K'Luth dread before it collided with their station. As they angled in on an intercept course, they were instead pelted from the side by incoming Railgun and Ion Cannon fire from the ICC dreads Matisse, Resilient and Vanquish.
"Look at that... Damned Lobster's gonna punch a hole in that oversized golf ball.", observed the Matisse's XO. "Yeah, and we're gonna let him.", muttered Allenby. "Helm, intercept those MI Cruisers. Put us between them and that Mandible. Tactical, concentrate fire on them."
The lead Praetorian came apart under withering fire from the three ICC dreads. The other two then turned to face their attackers, leaving the Mandible's path clear. The K'Luth dread was running at max speed when it ran straight into the hole in the side of the Node. Tearing several hundred meters into the severely damaged station, it smashed through bulkhead after bulkhead before detonating in a huge anti-matter fueled explosion.
The MI station had formidable armor, but internally it was comprised of relatively delicate components and machinery. The Mandible's explosion destroyed a huge portion of its inner works, sending its power source into critical mass and setting off a chain reaction of explosions ripping through the station's interior. All along the Node's surface, internal explosions caused blisters and extrusions to bulge out. It was as if the hard outer shell was working to contain the pressure that was building up within. And when the shell failed, it was going to be a big one.
"All ships fall back!", Rel'Nazar sent through the fleetwide comms. Tactical had read the violent power spike emanating from the Node. They had to get back. The thing was about to about go nova in scant seconds. The Siphon turned away from the Node and rolled to present her most undamaged side towards the MI station.
On the Matisse, Allenby saw the hull of the Node rippling and bubbling up on his viewscreen. The external radiation readings hit the roof. Oh crap.. crap, crap, crap... "Full power to the starboard shields! All ships! Shields up now! Hard to Port!" Comms relayed the message to the other two dreads. Power was immediately rerouted to the shields facing the dying Node. Ships in the viciniy immediately set their shields to Defense Mode and began to manuever away from the dying Node.
The surface of the Node appeared to break out in rashes. Then in a sudden and violent flash of purple, it turned into a short-lived star. Several ICC and K'Luth ships were either heavily damaged or destroyed in the ensuing explosion along with their MI counterparts. The remaining MI ships seemed temporarily disoriented with the loss of the Node. There was a strange and short silence as the firing ceased.
[ This Message was edited by: Kenny_Naboo[+R] on 2010-12-25 09:25 ]
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Kenny_Naboo
Marshal
Pitch Black
Joined: January 11, 2010
Posts: 3823
From: LobsterTown
| Posted: 2010-12-22 22:05
Then the second MI fleet arrived in the vicinity, still trading fire with the pursuing UGTO fleet. All hell broke loose again. The seemingly disoriented MI ships appeared to regain their senses and began fighting again. It was pandemonium as the second MI fleet merged with the main body of first. Opposing ships crossed each other's path, and every ship appeared to be shooting in random vectors. There were multiple collisions and blue on blue incidents as friendly fire became inevitable in such close quarter fighting.
Tal'Nesh picked himself off the deck and struggled to his feet. The Groz'elar was adrift, the power completely out. He studied the tactical display. Armor in the red, hull breaches in some sections, but the ship still seemed intact. Rel'Nazar was already on his feet giving orders to restart the ship. There was a shudder, then a humming noise as engineering finally got the Siphon to restart its engines. Just in time too, as the ship shook under hits from an approaching Praetorian.
"Target locked, Sir", Antietam's Tactical Officer reported. "Ahead flank. Alpha strike, fire at will!", O'Leary gave the order. The EAD lit up local space with its incredible arsenal of beams and QSTs, raining a world of hurt down upon the tail of the Praetorian cruiser that was in its forward-port quarter. Angling in, he saw the Praetorian's rear armor starting to peel and disintegrate under the intense barrage.
The Groz'elar's port armor was starting to buckle. Rel'Nazar gave the order for the ship to face the incoming Praetorian head on. The tactical officer locked all disruptors and stellar incinerators on the approaching Praetorian as the ship swung about. Tal'Nesh noticed that the incoming MI cruiser was being fired upon from behind by a UGTO EAD. Radiant streams of yellow-green light emanated from the Siphon as it unleashed a torrent of disruptor fire, following up with multiple SI bolts on the incoming MI ship.
Under fire from both the Siphon and EAD, the Praetorian's hull gave way as beams from both dreads skewered it through front to back in multiple locations. The Praetorian vanished in a blinding explosion.
O'Leary blinked the explosion out of his eyes as the collision alarm sounded. Through the viewport he could see the nose section of a K'Luth Siphon class dread bearing straight in for the bridge of the Antietam. "All back full, dive, dive, dive!! Hard to port!", he heard the XO shout. The helmsman slammed the control column forwards and left as he yanked the throttle all the way into reverse. O'Leary could only cringe as the ship started to respond to the Helm's input. The enormous profile of the Siphon seemed the shift to starboard.
Onboard the Groz'elar, the helmsman fought to climb and roll the ship to port. A head on collision with a UGTO ship was going to end up very badly for both ships... probably worse for the already battered K'Luth dread. Tal'Nesh grabbed onto the console as he cursed.
Both dreads passed within meters of each other, each travelling at over 12 GU/s in opposite directions. The dorsal engine pod of the Antietam scraped against the ventral hull of the Groz'elar, shaking both ships about before they finally cleared each other.
At that moment, the tide of battle turned. Outnumbered and mostly damaged, the remaining MI ships began to turn towards the Procyon transfer gate. Jumping out en masse, the airspace around the Tau Ceti gate in Kaus Borealis suddenly became quiet again.
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The battered K'Luth, ICC, and UGTO fleets regrouped and turned to face each other, tensions still running high.
"Mexican standoff...", muttered Allenby. The XO raised an eyebrow and looked at the Admiral. "Secure weapons, but stand by to fire."
"OK great... now what are you gonna do?", O'Leary mumbled to himself as he looked out the viewport, then at the Tac Panel. The fleets were arrayed in a roughly triangular orientation facing each other. He gave the order for Tactical to stand by.
"Hold your fire", Rel'Nazar instructed the K'luth fleet. Tal'nesh stepped up next to him. "It would seem that we are at an impasse, Captain. What would you propose?", he seemed to grin. Strange that he would actually find humor in this situation. Rel'Nazar replied, "I believe it would be prudent to stage a quick and quiet withdrawal at this point, Commander. As your Human agents are fond of saying... 'Live to fight another day', I believe?". Tal'Nesh nodded, "Let's go Captain."
Rel'Nazar commanded, "Communications, signal the fleet. Cloak and withdraw."
Allenby was slightly surprised when the K'Luth ships started to fade away on his Tac Panel. "Well, I guess they read my mind... ", he muttered to the XO, who could only nod. "Sir, the UGTO flagship is hailing us.", Communications announced. "Putting it on audio".
O'Leary spoke into his comms, "ICC flagship, this is the UWS Antietam. We are withdrawing from your sector. Repeat, we are withdrawing from your sector. I propose a ceasefire, over.". He received acknowledgement from the CSS Matisse. Terminating the channel, he gave the order for the fleet to withdraw to Cincinnati.
"Another day, rebel scum", he smiled inwardly.
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"The carbon based lifeforms have taken me by surprise. Where I have expected them to be divided, they have instead united to defend themselves. That was completely unexpected. My material losses have been heavy. I must now fall back to replenish resources and to rebuild what I have lost. I will return, learning from this experience.
End of line."
[ This Message was edited by: Kenny_Naboo[+R] on 2010-12-23 03:39 ]
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Glaceon
Fleet Admiral
Joined: January 08, 2010
Posts: 141
| Posted: 2010-12-23 00:15
it was long realy long kenny u should make a novel.
this is a realy nicly writen story. waiting for more.
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MaGoo
Fleet Admiral
*Renegade Space Marines*
Joined: March 18, 2009
Posts: 79
From: USA
| Posted: 2010-12-23 00:47
OMG! ITS BUTIFULL!!!!!!!!!!! I love it. Great job man.
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*MaGoo*
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-Shadowalker-™
Admiral
Galactic Navy
Joined: September 23, 2007
Posts: 709
From: Shadows
| Posted: 2010-12-23 02:31
must.... have.... more....
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Kenny_Naboo
Marshal
Pitch Black
Joined: January 11, 2010
Posts: 3823
From: LobsterTown
| Posted: 2010-12-23 03:28
Thanks for reading and your kind comments.
But I'm afraid that's the end of my little trilogy. 
The Fargo Rock saga ends here. 
Preceding this chapter are:
I. Run
II. The Dance of Death
[ This Message was edited by: Kenny_Naboo[+R] on 2010-12-23 19:26 ]
_________________
... in space, no one can hear you scream.....
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Glaceon
Fleet Admiral
Joined: January 08, 2010
Posts: 141
| Posted: 2010-12-23 20:59
Quote:
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On 2010-12-23 03:28, Kenny_Naboo[+R] wrote:
Thanks for reading and your kind comments.
But I'm afraid that's the end of my little trilogy.
The Fargo Rock saga ends here.
Preceding this chapter are:
I. Run
II. The Dance of Death
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what ur not writing more aw man.
(life has no more meaning)
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Kenny_Naboo
Marshal
Pitch Black
Joined: January 11, 2010
Posts: 3823
From: LobsterTown
| Posted: 2010-12-23 21:11
Quote:
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On 2010-12-23 20:59, Mal2103 [+R] wrote:
what ur not writing more aw man.
(life has no more meaning)
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Nah. I rather write my own stories in the game.
Pew pew pew!
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