Rise of the Kirin (Chapter 21)
Posted: Mon May 11, 2009 1:47 pm
Chapter 21 is presented in three acts.
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Chapter 21 (Arrival)
======================================
The /Therenback/ had gotten half the distance to the station, managing to avoid the attention of the main Thargoid force, when the torus cut out. "Mass locked," Roh'i rumbled. "Scanners?"
"We got Bugs. Large groups forward and behind."
Roh'i cut speed, "Gimme the cascade torp. Esei, eject a cascade canister, detonate it on my mark." He locked the torpedo on the nearest Thargoid ship ahead, a carrier, and launched it while the canister drifted away behind. Switching to aft camera and pushing the throttle to full, he watched the force of warships trying to intercept them overtake the canister. "Mark!"
The rear squadron of Bugs erupted into spheres of deadly blue. Roh'i yawed the ship hard to port and hit the injectors as the torpedo struck home, dissolving the carrier group into blue oblivion. Roh'i let the injectors burn till they were clear of the cascades.
"Drop tank." Roh'i turned the ship back on course as their last drop tank fell away. "What's the status on our friends?"
"The Red Storm reports fourteen fighters lost, but expects reinforcements to arrive soon with their command frigates. The Hammer says they're holding on."
"Right. Tell them we cascaded about thirty Bug ships trying to break for the station, and we can expect more Bug battle groups to make a try. I suggest they pull together into a holding force and get between the Bugs and the planet till those reinforcements arrive."
"Message relayed, Cap."
"Ordinance?"
"Two nukes, five militaries, and the e-bomb."
"An' nine cashcade containers," Esei added.
"Ok." Roh'i turned the ship towards the distant nav beacon, "Torus."
As the ship surged towards the nav beacon and the station on it's gravometric torus, Roh'i rumbled, "Now for our part of the plan, we may have it rougher than our allies. Gouglass is a rank arsehole; he practically stinks of arrogance. Worse, there's a mess of armed Marines on the station under that bastard's command."
"You think he called the Bugs, Boss?"
"I'd bet a million creds on it, Kitten. I think it's such a sure bet, it'll probably pay off four to one. Remember folks, we're to pick up Mima then amscray. Hopefully without bloodshed. But if we're attacked, we defend ourselves. Got that?"
Echos of confirmation swept across the bridge.
The ship dropped out of torus. Roh'i cruised the /Therenback/ towards the bouy, and opened a comm channel, "Tibecia Station, this is /Therenback/, requesting docking clearance."
"Welcome, /Therenback/," came the reply. "Clearance granted. Would you like automatic docking?"
"No thank you, we'll take 'er in manually. But before we do, I suggest you launch a few Vipers, we lost our escort to some Thargoid ships halfway from witch beacon, and there may be more Bugs out there."
"Copy that. Stand by, launching Vipers."
As the station launched three Viper patrol ships, which sped off towards the witch beacon, Thorn asked, "Another insurance policy, Cap?"
"Yeah, a little one. Those are regular police ships, and I doubt the local constable is under the General's command. They probably won't last long against the sheer number of Bugs out there, but every laser helps at this point."
The station radio'd, "/Therenback/, you are go for approach."
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Chapter 21b (decisions decisions)
======================================
With a thought The Hammer locked onto the front 3 Thargoid warships tearing through space towards it at just under half the speed of light. After a quick collision check the ship reduced speed by a third. It calculated that this would enable the lasers to cool enough for 2 more bursts before they were nose to nose with the Thargoid fleet. Specialized Hard head missiles spun out into space seeking for the flanking warships. Shulth had long since tuned out the sound of ECM pulses going off two dozen a second up and down the battle line. Short of getting close enough to throw it at them, standard darts just weren't going to cut the mustard in this fight. The front military laser targeted the spinning saucer opposite and fired. The emerald light tore along its shields, exhausting them in under ten seconds. Constantly correcting for velocity, thrust wakes and inertia from the simultaneous missile release, the Hammer slew the laser up across the raised body of the craft neatly slicing a third of it clean off. Turning drunkenly the ship slammed into the saucer to its left just as the hard head impacted from the front. Shaken and its shield flaring from the explosion the remaining warship turned straight into the path of the last oncoming hardhead. It spun lazily in space, a large chunk blown out of its front saucer section. Unable to get out of the way it was soon chopped to ribbons by the shields of its own ships as the next three took up position on the front line.
Laser light started flashing in all directions now, as the lower power weapons began to come into range. They would release their robot fighters soon then all hell would break loose. Shulth had already been treated to the chorus of panic coming from the left flank as the rash Red Storm pilots were engulfed, the space around them pulsing thickly with Thargoid fighters and searing laser fire. With depleted fuel stocks and lasers practically at melting point, only the best and most creative pilots would survive. That is if any one did. As if replying to his thoughts, robot ships spewed from the amassed carriers, warships and battleships in front of him like pollen in a summer meadow. The scanner array almost over loaded itself trying to keep track of all the traces, finally settling on a slightly more inaccurate but less processor intensive fleet cloud depicting depth of ships.
This was ridiculous. The enemy was closing fast. The Hammer had crippled another warship and a number of the robot fighters. To be honest wherever you pointed a laser in space right now chances are you'd hit something. Unfortunately as soon as the centre of the two fleets clashed it would make getting anywhere quickly extremely difficult. More over, thanks to the the Red Storm, the fleets would continue impacting down the line ending up with the right wing swapping laser fire with the Thargoids practically on the Tibecia stations front door step. This couldn't be allowed to happen. A fight of this magnitude would inevitably take out the aging station, Mima, the Kirin and some if not all of Captain Roh'i's crew. If that was the only decision to make then it would have been a laughably easy one. Udian was also receiving worrying reports from the weakened left, where the robot fighters has successfully outflanked the edge of the GalCop militias formation and were now merrily chewing up ships from the front and side. He couldn't be in two places at once. Go for the station and risk the fleet being annihilated. Reinforce the flank and he might be able to keep the battle going but he would risk loosing people he didn't want to loose. As the seconds of indecision ticked by the centre of the massive Thargoid force loomed threatening to take any choice away from him.
Then it happened, blue light from a gigantic cascade explosion tore through the Thargoid right flank. vaporizing an entire carrier group reinforcing that side of their battle line. This rebalanced things, the compromised left flank was now equaled by the weakened right of the Thargoid fleet. Within a second Shulth made the necessary adjustments all plans purged from his mind. As he witch fuel injected squarely into the middle of the Thargoid fleet.
======================================
Chapter 21c (Reinforcements)
======================================
As the /Therenback/ slipped into dock, the remaining fighters, then the largest, heaviest ships of the Red Storm dropped into the system. The seven Griff Boa command frigates escorted by Imperial Couriers turned to flank the Thargoid forces towards the planet, while the Monk gunships, and arriving fighter force turned to reinforce the failing Red Storm lines. The Dragon M torpedo ships, durable vessels armed with military missiles and nuclear torpedoes, went after the heavy Thargoid carriers and battleships trying to break away from the main Thargoid force.
Meanwhile, the three patrol Vipers took on another carrier group making for the station, and held a delaying action until the combined force of Boas and Couriers could assist them.
More ships were arriving on the tail end of the Red Storm command forces, mostly lone wolf bounty hunters and privateers picked up along the way. More were sure to be inbound, due to the rumor, now an undeniable fact, still circulating around GalNet.
The arrival of the command ships began to bring the Red Storm back to being an organized fighting force. But with the system crawling with Thargoids, would it be enough?
======================================
Chapter 21 (Arrival)
======================================
The /Therenback/ had gotten half the distance to the station, managing to avoid the attention of the main Thargoid force, when the torus cut out. "Mass locked," Roh'i rumbled. "Scanners?"
"We got Bugs. Large groups forward and behind."
Roh'i cut speed, "Gimme the cascade torp. Esei, eject a cascade canister, detonate it on my mark." He locked the torpedo on the nearest Thargoid ship ahead, a carrier, and launched it while the canister drifted away behind. Switching to aft camera and pushing the throttle to full, he watched the force of warships trying to intercept them overtake the canister. "Mark!"
The rear squadron of Bugs erupted into spheres of deadly blue. Roh'i yawed the ship hard to port and hit the injectors as the torpedo struck home, dissolving the carrier group into blue oblivion. Roh'i let the injectors burn till they were clear of the cascades.
"Drop tank." Roh'i turned the ship back on course as their last drop tank fell away. "What's the status on our friends?"
"The Red Storm reports fourteen fighters lost, but expects reinforcements to arrive soon with their command frigates. The Hammer says they're holding on."
"Right. Tell them we cascaded about thirty Bug ships trying to break for the station, and we can expect more Bug battle groups to make a try. I suggest they pull together into a holding force and get between the Bugs and the planet till those reinforcements arrive."
"Message relayed, Cap."
"Ordinance?"
"Two nukes, five militaries, and the e-bomb."
"An' nine cashcade containers," Esei added.
"Ok." Roh'i turned the ship towards the distant nav beacon, "Torus."
As the ship surged towards the nav beacon and the station on it's gravometric torus, Roh'i rumbled, "Now for our part of the plan, we may have it rougher than our allies. Gouglass is a rank arsehole; he practically stinks of arrogance. Worse, there's a mess of armed Marines on the station under that bastard's command."
"You think he called the Bugs, Boss?"
"I'd bet a million creds on it, Kitten. I think it's such a sure bet, it'll probably pay off four to one. Remember folks, we're to pick up Mima then amscray. Hopefully without bloodshed. But if we're attacked, we defend ourselves. Got that?"
Echos of confirmation swept across the bridge.
The ship dropped out of torus. Roh'i cruised the /Therenback/ towards the bouy, and opened a comm channel, "Tibecia Station, this is /Therenback/, requesting docking clearance."
"Welcome, /Therenback/," came the reply. "Clearance granted. Would you like automatic docking?"
"No thank you, we'll take 'er in manually. But before we do, I suggest you launch a few Vipers, we lost our escort to some Thargoid ships halfway from witch beacon, and there may be more Bugs out there."
"Copy that. Stand by, launching Vipers."
As the station launched three Viper patrol ships, which sped off towards the witch beacon, Thorn asked, "Another insurance policy, Cap?"
"Yeah, a little one. Those are regular police ships, and I doubt the local constable is under the General's command. They probably won't last long against the sheer number of Bugs out there, but every laser helps at this point."
The station radio'd, "/Therenback/, you are go for approach."
======================================
Chapter 21b (decisions decisions)
======================================
With a thought The Hammer locked onto the front 3 Thargoid warships tearing through space towards it at just under half the speed of light. After a quick collision check the ship reduced speed by a third. It calculated that this would enable the lasers to cool enough for 2 more bursts before they were nose to nose with the Thargoid fleet. Specialized Hard head missiles spun out into space seeking for the flanking warships. Shulth had long since tuned out the sound of ECM pulses going off two dozen a second up and down the battle line. Short of getting close enough to throw it at them, standard darts just weren't going to cut the mustard in this fight. The front military laser targeted the spinning saucer opposite and fired. The emerald light tore along its shields, exhausting them in under ten seconds. Constantly correcting for velocity, thrust wakes and inertia from the simultaneous missile release, the Hammer slew the laser up across the raised body of the craft neatly slicing a third of it clean off. Turning drunkenly the ship slammed into the saucer to its left just as the hard head impacted from the front. Shaken and its shield flaring from the explosion the remaining warship turned straight into the path of the last oncoming hardhead. It spun lazily in space, a large chunk blown out of its front saucer section. Unable to get out of the way it was soon chopped to ribbons by the shields of its own ships as the next three took up position on the front line.
Laser light started flashing in all directions now, as the lower power weapons began to come into range. They would release their robot fighters soon then all hell would break loose. Shulth had already been treated to the chorus of panic coming from the left flank as the rash Red Storm pilots were engulfed, the space around them pulsing thickly with Thargoid fighters and searing laser fire. With depleted fuel stocks and lasers practically at melting point, only the best and most creative pilots would survive. That is if any one did. As if replying to his thoughts, robot ships spewed from the amassed carriers, warships and battleships in front of him like pollen in a summer meadow. The scanner array almost over loaded itself trying to keep track of all the traces, finally settling on a slightly more inaccurate but less processor intensive fleet cloud depicting depth of ships.
This was ridiculous. The enemy was closing fast. The Hammer had crippled another warship and a number of the robot fighters. To be honest wherever you pointed a laser in space right now chances are you'd hit something. Unfortunately as soon as the centre of the two fleets clashed it would make getting anywhere quickly extremely difficult. More over, thanks to the the Red Storm, the fleets would continue impacting down the line ending up with the right wing swapping laser fire with the Thargoids practically on the Tibecia stations front door step. This couldn't be allowed to happen. A fight of this magnitude would inevitably take out the aging station, Mima, the Kirin and some if not all of Captain Roh'i's crew. If that was the only decision to make then it would have been a laughably easy one. Udian was also receiving worrying reports from the weakened left, where the robot fighters has successfully outflanked the edge of the GalCop militias formation and were now merrily chewing up ships from the front and side. He couldn't be in two places at once. Go for the station and risk the fleet being annihilated. Reinforce the flank and he might be able to keep the battle going but he would risk loosing people he didn't want to loose. As the seconds of indecision ticked by the centre of the massive Thargoid force loomed threatening to take any choice away from him.
Then it happened, blue light from a gigantic cascade explosion tore through the Thargoid right flank. vaporizing an entire carrier group reinforcing that side of their battle line. This rebalanced things, the compromised left flank was now equaled by the weakened right of the Thargoid fleet. Within a second Shulth made the necessary adjustments all plans purged from his mind. As he witch fuel injected squarely into the middle of the Thargoid fleet.
======================================
Chapter 21c (Reinforcements)
======================================
As the /Therenback/ slipped into dock, the remaining fighters, then the largest, heaviest ships of the Red Storm dropped into the system. The seven Griff Boa command frigates escorted by Imperial Couriers turned to flank the Thargoid forces towards the planet, while the Monk gunships, and arriving fighter force turned to reinforce the failing Red Storm lines. The Dragon M torpedo ships, durable vessels armed with military missiles and nuclear torpedoes, went after the heavy Thargoid carriers and battleships trying to break away from the main Thargoid force.
Meanwhile, the three patrol Vipers took on another carrier group making for the station, and held a delaying action until the combined force of Boas and Couriers could assist them.
More ships were arriving on the tail end of the Red Storm command forces, mostly lone wolf bounty hunters and privateers picked up along the way. More were sure to be inbound, due to the rumor, now an undeniable fact, still circulating around GalNet.
The arrival of the command ships began to bring the Red Storm back to being an organized fighting force. But with the system crawling with Thargoids, would it be enough?
