>>18936596
Memorial services are being held by some of the crew for the four engineers who died. You consider attending but are disuaded by other members of the bridge crew.

"You can pay your respects after but a funeral for the enlisted crew is not a place where they're going to want an officer." Kavos warns you. "It will just put the crew on edge. If you want though I could ask if they would allow a broadcast to the rest of the ship for those that cant be present."

[ ] show up anyways
[ ] ask for broacast instead
[ ] other

Bump with what combat has been like ever since you guys got this ship and its shield upgrade.

>>18936812
One sec, I forgot it's Tuesday while I was buried under tons of work..

>>18936607
Nah lets pay our respects later. Let them do their thing without broadcasting.

>>18936607
>[X] other
A broadcast sounds rather unbeseeming but if it's a normal occurance in the fleet I'd be okay with it. Anyhow, we should read their files and bay our respects once the official service is over.

>>18936607
[other]

let the men pay their respects. We'll pay our respects later.

Repair work around the ship goes continues to go smoothly. Some crewmen were unable to attend the memorial because of duties and miss out. You spot a few of them later on when you go to pay your respects. There's a name plaque next to each of the holo images of the deceased crewmen with space for other crew to who have been here to write their names. The Plaque will later be shipped back to the family. You add your name in a blank space near the bottom.

The six other crewmen who were wounded are expected to make a full recovery eventually but it could be weeks depending on the severity. Additional crew have been transferred to your ship to make up for losses.

Three days after the battle at Robrinaan repair work is finished and the Concordance gives you clearance to undock.

After moving back to the squadron parking location you decide to flip through the local IFF readings to check the status of the House Erid fleet. Four Carriers, just as many Light Cruisers and a pair of corvettes dont really constitute a fleet though.
You come to the conclusion that their contribution to the expeditionary fleet has been effectively wiped out. Their remaining ships have been placed in reserve until such time that their fleet is rebuilt. As far as your House is concerned the situation could not have ended better. Your fleet took few losses and those ships damaged in the fighting can be repaired or rebuilt in short order.

Rumor around the fleet is that a House Erid representative is expected to deliver a formal thank you to the Knight Commander for rendering assistance to their wounded Medium cruiser.

Checking in on the missions available to the squadron you find they've all been scrubbed until further notice.

Knight Sylvan and a few ships from the squadron return from an operation an hour later.

"All ships from the Third attack squadron, ready your vessels for immediate departure. All Pilots hop a shuttle to the Knight Commander's Medium Cruiser for a briefing. Sylvan out."

>Wall of text warning for today

A half hour later you file in alongside the other pilots and officers and take your assigned seat.

"Kinda cramped in here." you whisper to the others.
"This is a warship not a station, get used to it pilot." Says a Navy officer who overheard you.

Knight Sylvan takes the podium first.
"As our esteemed Commander will not be with us for another few minutes I've been asked to pass along a missive from higher up to kill time."

He calls up an image of two Kavarian Battlecruisers on the monitor.

"For the past twenty years or so the Pirate Warlord states have been building a knock-off version of the old Kavarian Battlecruiser. That's the one we've all come to know and love for being such goddamn bastards lately.
Now as I'm sure you all know the original battlecruiser here on the left..." He turns around to look at the monitor. "My left, your right I mean, was designed and built back before the Kavarians declared independence and threw us out of their territory. Since then they've legally owned the design.
With all of the other Factions mobilizing against the Pirates the Kavarian Government has requested we come up with an alternate designation for the ones the Pirates are using. This is to prevent confusion in battle when fighting alongside the Kavarian fleet.
Any ideas we come up with will be passed up the chain of command where I'm sure someone more important than us will take all the credit."

>>18937060
It kind of looks like a razor to me.

>>18937084
>Could work
>Anyways suggestion box will remain open

Eventually Knight commander Winifred enters and takes the podium.

"Knights, officers, pilots, welcome.

Fleet intelligence has determined that a serious threat is developing that must be removed before our departure in pursuit of the pirate main forces.

Up until the pirate raids this year House Kharbos previously held most of the systems in this dwarf galaxy. After taking considerable casualties they were forced to retreat to their home territories and have not sortied out since, not even to provide ships to the expeditionary fleets.

That on its own has not been unusual, fully half of the Houses have abstained from involvement in this venture. They are however the only Major that has not contributed ships, all the others holding out have been Mid or Minor level Houses. At the same time they are not campaigning against this expedition, merely remaining neutral.

What intelligence does find unusual is that one of the seven Major Houses would guard a section of their territory so poorly. Most other Houses would have stationed a far more visible number of ships."

>>18937060

"Edge" Battlecruiser
"Knockoff" battlecruiser
"Angle" Battlecruiser
"Flathead" Battlecruiser

and i'm out of ideas...

>>18937192
They plottin somethin

>>18937192
>pic from BSG
>instantly reminded of flak guns
>also reminded of Cylon missile spam

There are parallels here.

>>18937192
those fuckers orchestrated this whole thing to weaken another house in preparation for a surprise attack, didn't they?

we could just call them knock offs.

"Since our arrival here what we have consistently found is evidence of the unauthorized local production of slave implants, the construction of new advanced warship designs and very possibly neuro-chemical experimentation for eventual use on soldiers. These have all fallen into enemy hands. The capturing of civilians for ransom or use as slaves is not unusual, but the pirates have never attempted to abduct so many at a once.
On top of this the Pirates who remained behind have been acting increasingly erratic, suicidal even."

Winifred activates the monitor behind her showing a picture of the House Erid Medium cruiser burning in space above Robrinaan.

"Mass suicide tactics are not a trait of career Pirates, this is the work of extremists. Coincidentally a large number of such individuals can be found in one system in the Ullat Galaxy. Here." She says pointing to a blinking star icon which starts to display system information. "The Gesaur system. All roads lead back to this key world in the area formerly belonging to House Kharbos.

All of this information has led Intel to believe that House Kharbos was planning on using Ullat as a staging ground to conquer the ruling House some time in the near future. They kept their forces here to a minimum to cut down on suspicion of a fleet build up.

The pirates were able to find ship crews willing to fight and die just to hurt us because House Kharbos has been maintaining in secret a high security prison complex which has been responsible for holding terrorists, political dissidents and other malcontents. The prisoners were drawn not just from their worlds but from any House in this galaxy willing to trade for them. Doing so isnt strictly illegal and hundreds of Houses would sooner be rid of such dangerous elements."

"These prisoners are considered expendable by most Houses but using them to conduct neuro-chemical treatment testing is illegal for both Dro'all and Humans. Kharbos would have implanted the experiment survivors with slave chips and used them to man their new warships.

This plan has obviously backfired and after they captured the site the Pirates handed control of the facility over to the former prisoners. The prisoners are the ones in charge here now, all of the real pirates have ever fled or been killed. Any civilians loyal to the Dominion regardless of House are being rounded up by the dissidents and implanted with slave chips. They're using our own citizens against us.

Needless to say this incident has been classed as a full blown rebellion by the Ruling House who has ordered it be stamped out ASAP. They have authorized the siezure of all systems and assets in the Ullat Galaxy, which will be handed over to the Houses who assisted in taking them.

Our duty is now to clean up the mess left by the former occupants which the pirates have taken full advantage of."

>>18937383
Well ain't that some shit.

>>18937383

"Does this mean we are to kill civilians if we can not prevent the enemy from escaping with them, sir?"

"This ship will likely comprise the bulk of the Rebel fleet when we encounter them."
The monitor switches to display a ship similar to the light attack craft you fought at Robrinaan.

"This is the Scarab class light corvette. They were designed and built just before the mid point of the Faction Wars by the Ruling House of that period as a means of bulking up the fleet. They were the smallest combat vessels we could build at the time that could mount shields or a jump drive. In response the Terrans built a similar craft, the Delta class attack ship, but both designs varied in their preferred weapons load out.

The old Scarab carried a single phase cannon turret and were deployed only in large numbers. The losses they took in combat were horrendous and the remaining ships were pulled from front line service once the first war they served in had ended. Some were sold off but most were put into storage like most Houses do with their older corvettes.

The design is not dead however. Several Houses have made attempts to revive the design, the most recent being House Kharbos which established an R&D base on Gesaur. It's in the same city at the prison.

By now the new Scarab R&D base has begun mass production using both the local rapid prototyping systems and the conventional production lines. The ships were intended from day one to be produced quickly and that's what they're doing. We could be facing hundreds of them, all faster and more maneuverable than our corvettes and with better close range firepower."

>>18937488
Time to stock up on AoE weaponry, I guess.

>>18937488
Seems like sending corvettes against them is a waste of time.

Our big extra-shieldy bugzapping cruiser on the other hand...

>>18937487
"We have no way to rescue enslaved civilians who have already been put aboard enemy ships. All we can do is retake the facility where the implantation is taking place as quickly as possible. Without advanced specialized medical equipment it will greatly reduce the speed at which people can be implanted giving us time to rescue the remainder.

Any civilians we fight once our troops are on the ground can be stunned with either pulse pistols, phase rifles and stun grenades."

>>18937543
"and if they're already aboard a ship that is likely to escape the system?"

"Shoot to disable their engines if you can. We have intelligence assets that will try to locate any ships that escape. Should it be possible to board larger enemy ships in battle all Marines and boarding crews are being instructed to take as many alive as possible but only if it does not impede their own safety. Do not attempt to board the Scarabs; we do not have interior construction plans of the new ships and there may only be room for a handful of people inside.

On to fleet planning. To counter the expected effectiveness of the enemy at close range the fleet will be deploying with massive numerical superiority in mind. Tight formations of Corvettes and Frigates will form firing lines and not engage in maneuver warfare. This will allow the superior range of our phase cannon equipped regular forces to decimate incoming attackers. If enemy ships are able to bypass our front and attack our corvette lines from behind our starfighters will deal with them.

This will be a large scale operation of a sort that has not been performed in many years. Command wishes to use it as an opportunity to practice multi-House fleet formations which will be necessary if the expeditionary forces are to prove effective in the long term. Problems with the chain of command and the willingness of some groups to accept orders are fully expected, but the only way to overcome them is through practice and trial by fire.

Two thirds of the current fleet will make their way to the edges of the Gesaur system. From there the Attack Squadrons will jump in system and secure a perimeter around the fourth world. Their objective is only to slow any enemy forces and delay them until the fleet has assembled."

>>18937679
"After the Attack Squadrons are in place the Super Heavy Cruisers Devil's Laughter and Concordance will jump in approimately 3-5 million kilometers from Gesaur depending on conditions. They'll be joined by the Heavy carrier Sapin along with four Heavy Cruisers. Once they are on station Devil's Laughter will transmit a homing signal and the remaining fleet elements will jump to their location. Its expected to take at least ten minutes to form up their line before they can begin moving closer to the target world.

Once form up is complete the attack squadrons will be recalled and take up positions on the flanks of the fleet.
Any questions?"

>>18937760

Well boys, it was nice knowing you all.

This sounds like a suicide mission for the attack groups.

>>18937760
>Any questions?

You don't actually expect us to pay for our munitions on this mission, right?

>>18937802
addition:

"How long are the attack squadrons expected to delay the enemy forces from their initial jump in and does the fourth planet have any orbital defenses?"

If we jump in on top of a super heavy or an orbital station with defenses... we're screwed

>>18937836
"Given the importance of this mission the ruling House has requested that forces be able to purchase disposable munitions at considerably reduced Requisition cost."

The attack squadrons may acquire as many missiles as their launch racks can mount for free.
Torps are now 5 RP.

>>18937857
"Ten minutes would be preferable but even five should be enough. We know that there are three older mass driver platforms in low orbit. There are also a pair of converted asteroids in geostationary orbit that act as traffic control stations. You shouldn't need to approach within weapons range of them, just delay any ships they launch.
As for any super heavies... we would have been attacked by now if the Rebels had any.

>>18937962
Let's get those missiles and torps. Even if we don't use them, it's unlikely we'll have the chance to get them this cheap again.

>>18937962
"How vulnerable are these facilities to missile barrages and torpedo strikes, sir? Would it be possible for us to cripple one and delay or stop its deployment of ships?"

>>18937962
>Buy torpedoes for 5 RP
>Advice_space_jew
>Sell them back for 10 RP after the mission
Capitalism, ho!

Your ship's magazine can hold a maximum of 40 torpedoes. You currently have five.

Spend 175 RP on Torps?

>>18938090
Definitely.

Would it be possible to weld on some more missile/torp launchers, or acquire more ordnance than our launchers can actually hold, so that we can reload them?

>>18938090
Definitely.
How much good would an armour upgrade for 300RP do us?

>>18938122
>Would it be possible to weld on some more missile/torp launchers,
Not in the time available.

>or acquire more ordnance than our launchers can actually hold, so that we can reload them?
Yes, but you wouldn't be able to reload them in combat. You can get 16 missiles free and up to 32 at 1 RP apiece. Your cargo bays have room for more missiles but its obvious you wouldn't be using them all in one fight so any more after that will be at full price.

>>18938178
Get 32. If there's no time to put on more launchers, I guess we couldn't construct a mechanism to fire missiles out of the cargo bay either.

>>18938178
Yeah, get those additional missiles at a discount.

How many torps do we get for 5 rp a pìece?

>>18938159
>Armour
Would double the thickness of your armor resulting in a slight reduction in speed and maneuverability. Due to time constraints this would be retconned as having been purchased earlier.

>>18938234
As many as your magazine can hold.

Captcha stop being a faggot and POST

>>18938317
Pass on the armor then. Being able to run away is probably more useful.

Max out on cheap munitions.

>>18938317
Would the additional armour have saved those 4 KIA, or would the reduced speed and maneuverability have made the hit damage us worse?

>>18938353
It was heavy fire so you still would have taken a bad hit but it might not have exited the other side of the hull in that section. There still would have been casualties.
Against smaller caliber weapons it would have held up better.

>>18938449
In that case, I think additional armour is something very sensible to have on this mission. I doubt we'll be able to outrun those scarabs.

>>18938317
Could we drop nukes from our cargo bay like mines to damage pursuers / confuse torpedoes?

>>18938467
I think the doors to our cargo bay are on the ship's front.

>>18938478
Which means we would have to brake hard and let everything fly out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVVKCOB8eUA

0900 hours
December 19, 4023 (TY)
Dominion 11th Dynasty

After loading up as many missiles and torpedoes as you think your ship could possibly stow the squadron is directed to its rally point. Each of the Jarik-Dremine attack squadrons are being divided up among the separate units to prevent the loss of all House forces should one of the larger attack wings be wiped out. Your squadron is back at full strength with a replacement ship having arrived for your one squadron member.

"Get ready people. We're operating in a much larger group here so in theory we should be safer." The LT assures you.

The rest of the fleet has begun forming up into larger wings of corvettes and Frigates followed by their carriers, battleships and light cruisers.

Five attack wings jump out, each with 5 attack squadrons apiece. Just over 300 ships in the initial wave.

"Gesaur system here we come!"

>>18938525
>"Gesaur system here we come!"
Not if Linda has word to say about it.

>>18938539
Think they'd send us jump coordinates since we are throwing 300 ships into a tight space, can't have collisions due to drift

Arrival at the edges of the system is initially anticlimactic, long range sensors show no indication you've been detected. There are few ships in system save for some transports heading to or from the fourth planet.

"This is Knight Captain Idopid to attack squadrons. The moment the Super heavies jump in all hell is going to break loose. Dont micro jump to the inner system early or we'll alert the Rebels before the rest of our fleet can micro the rest of the way in. We have to time it just right."

"Spike on long range sensors. The rest of the fleet is coming in." Reports Alex.

"Get ready. Devil's Laughter is fully combat rigged but Concordance will take longer to align and jump."

About 15 AU away both of the Supers snap back into real space. The fusion drive assemblies on the ships redirect thrust to bring their 30km length into line.

"We never should have brought those things here but it's their decision." Says Sylvan.

The ships are almost lined up and have begun charging their drives.

"Attack squadrons prepare to jump to assigned coordinates... now!"

Roll 1d20

rolled 16 = 16

>>18938705
*BOOM*

>>18938713
16 is good. Remember, rolls are averaged, so think before you post.

>>18938713
Linda's chair is awesome. We should try to get a medal for it.

>>18938725
Not touching the dice.

test post.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3INDaStNFs

The attack wing drops in at the outer edges of the fourth planet's gravity well as planned. Each of the squadrons are spaced enough to allow maneuvering room. Red warning icons pop up on your display highlighting a small orbital platform that looks like a stick with a sphere at its midpoint. The platform turns to point at the attack wing.

You know a weapon when you see one so you're already maneuvering when the thing fires.
"Incoming." Warns sensors just before you feel something strike the shields.
"Kinetic penetrator shot. It ricoched off our shields."

"We might as well take out that platform so that we dont have to deal with it later." Says the Captain. "Third J-D Squadron, take it down, we'll cover you."

"Copy that." Replies Knight Sylvan "Third squadron on me. The rest of the wing will cover us as we take that thing out. Careful you dont let it hit you head on."

The squadron charges in towards the lower orbit the platform is in, everyone doing their best to dodge the incoming fire. Once again the larger cross section of your ship is making you an ideal target.
"This is bullshit." you mutter as you continue to roll and juke your ship as you advance.

"It took a few seconds but the firing rate on that platform is up to a steady one point two seconds." sensors tells you.

One unlucky shot hits you dead on dropping your shield by four percent. It isnt a lot but it would add up if you started taking multiple hits like it.

Alex's Corvette takes one hit and you can see his ship visibly shudder under the impact.
"Alex you alright?"
"I'm good but those things can pack a punch."

"Everybody launch torpedoes." Orders Sylvan as you reach maximum range. Eight of the warheads streak out and hit the station shield.
"Fire again."

Roll 1d100

rolled 62 = 62

>>18939047
Launching torpedoes!

rolled 85 = 85

How many ships are in this wing? If its a couple dozen and a few tops will do then I say conserve, but if it's just a handful we may have to spam the station to bring it down

before we go launching our missile racks this mission, I have a question about missiles.

I assume that they have maneuvering thrusters for their terminal stage, would we be able to program the missiles to do a "redirect"? Fire them at one target, but have them suddenly divert after another one to force their point defense have to cover a larger area or perhaps have less time to react?

>>18939150
Yes you could do this. Wait don't ships do this now in Sword of the Stars II? Its annoying as hell as I cant get screens of macross missile shenanigans.

>>18939282
would it actually improve our missile hits or would it just be a nice little "screw with a certain target" thing to do?

>>18939282
No idea, I gave up on that game after the release disaster.

"Sylvan watch yourself, we've got contacts launching from the asteroid stations and ground side. A lot of them. They're splitting up to tackle each of our attack wings by the looks of things. You could have ships coming up from the atmosphere from what the other groups are reporting."

The second group of torpedoes launched by the squadron hit the station causing its shield to flicker. By that point it doesn't matter as you've entered effective range for beam weapons. Phase cannon fire from the squadron drops the station shield even as it launches a parting volley of missiles. The white fire of twin linked phase beams cut open the station hull, eventually striking the accelerator. The missiles it launched are still incoming but there are no signs of more.

"Station disabled." Reports Sylvan "We're heading back to regroup with the rest of the wing."

"Hurry Lieutenant, we've got a few squadrons worth of attack ships and fighters headed this way from one of the stations."

"I'm picking up contacts from the surface headed our way." says Alex. "Twenty six light attack craft and five squadrons of fighters."

"Full burn Third squadron. Anyone with aft firing weapons you know what to do."

Your gunners open fire with the point defense turrets but the smaller ships are still at maximum range. The LT's ship and the three Dagger class corvettes open fire with their phase cannon turrets.

Looking at your sensors you can see the heavier ships have jumped in a good distance off. Wings of corvettes and frigates are jumping in towards the group from all directions, more every second.

As the squadron gains distance from the planet and begins its turn towards the other units from your wing you start to lose weapon locks on the enemy ships. They don't appear to be perusing you too closely.

>>18939344
Yeah, I still haven't gotten around to playing it either.

>>18939309
More along the lines of "screw with a certain target."


"They're slowing down. You guys think they're going to give the fleet time to form up?" Asks Mike hopefully.

Additional waves launching from the stations and the ground make their appearance in answer. On the bright side so few launched right away that they previously let you go. Other wings are reporting that they're not so lucky and are retreating under fire. At full power you'll be able to reach the rest of the attack wing before they're engaged but what then?

"Sir what are we going to do?" you ask.

"Well we could try to punch through one of the groups coming from the station and then break away in the confusion, or we could just run the hell away and hope that they continue to pursue us. I dont think they'd have enough time to reach the fleet by now to mess things up too badly."

"I'm starting to think the same thing Lieutenant." Says Captain Idopid. He must be listening in on all the squadron coms.

[ ] Hit and run (Roll 2d20)
[ ] Bravely run away away (Roll 1d20)
[ ] Other

>>18939738

rolled 3 = 3

>>18939738
We really need to get a private squadron channel.

>[X] Hit and run (Roll 2d20)
First roll.

rolled 2 = 2

>>18939790
Ouch, second one.

rolled 4, 18 = 22

How likely are we to get decimated if we punch through? I'm all for punching through and taking a few out unless it is like 3 of us versus 300 of them. If we think it is a death trap bravely run, if any chance of honor and a few more notches in out belt then let's seek and destroy!

rolled 9, 15 = 24

>>18939738
Let's try the hit and run thing.

>>18939790
>>18939803
>>18939834
>3 rolls below 5
So, Emergency Thrusters are going to be in play this time by the looks of it.
You guys did take armor right? Right?

>>18939883
Sure

>>18939883
Yeah, not like we've had the chance to invest 300 rp in something more useful.

I'd normally roll a die to decide if we did, bit as the guy who rolled the 3 and the 2, I don't really trust them right now.

In space why does armor slow us? we are in a void mass shouldn't effect maneuverability like in atmosphere. So I'm saying yes armor, yes probably need thrusters, but the two second rolls for punch through look mighty nice

>>18939944
Mass does affect maneuverability in a void, because if you increase your mass without increasing your thrust, you can't accelerate as quickly.

"They're getting too close for us to outrun." Concludes the Captain. "Third squadron keep heading towards the group we're facing off against, the other squadrons will be up to speed once you catch up. We're going to smash through the front group and mix them up enough it'll slow down the others."

You follow the LT as he speeds toward the other four squadrons who are picking up the pace. The is the one kind of fight attack ships like yours excel in, head to head, the other being pursuit. All five squadrons open fire with their beam weapons, some launching missiles and torps. The smaller ships are difficult to hit with torpedo fire, even after the weapons attempt to loop around for second attempts at their targets.

The Heavy Pulse Cannons on your and Lt Sylvan's ship face much the same problem, the enemy ships are just too darn small to hit effectively. You land one good hit with the spinal mount weapons crippling one of the ships but it proves to be the exception not the rule.
Return fire once you come within range is heavy. All of the small ships have light pulse cannon and your ships just have a much harder time dodging. The enemy gunners don't seem to care much which ship they shoot at as long as they hit. Few dozen light pulse cannon shots hit you simultaneously, momentarily overloading your main shield.
A pair of attack bombers line up to drop torpedoes into your flight path. Hitting the emergency thrusters you just barely get out of their path and ram a Scarab that was getting in your way. It takes the worst of the impact, and spirals out of control.

"Punching through!" Yells the Captain "Everyone fire some missiles then detonate them once we're past, it'll trip up the second group."

>>18940465
A few scarabs that were able to change course enough walk pulse cannon fire along the length of your ship, some of the fire getting through your weakened shield. Five shots blast craters in your armor near your starboard pulse cannon and back toward one of the engines but the added plating proves to be just enough.

Alex rolls in, hitting one of the ships with both his phase cannon destroying it's engine and one cannon. The second does its best to get the hell out of the way.

Breaking clear of the first group you order half you missiles launched. After a few seconds for them to gain some distance you and the other pilots detonate them. Somewhere close to three hundred nukes blanket the area, filling sensors with static and covering the attack wing's movement as the entire group changes course almost ninety degrees.

The distraction works and by the time the second enemy unit from the station get past the interference and regroup with the first you've already made it out of weapons range. That doesn't stop all pursuit however. Enemy starfighter squadrons harry you and the other squadrons as you retreat toward the fleet.

Your point defense turrets continue to get a work out as you and the other undamaged ships do what you can to cover the one who took hits. The fleet has completely formed up by now. Lines of corvettes and frigates screen the heavier support vessels in the back just as planned. Starfighter squadrons are soon dispatched to help cover the retreat of all the attack wings.

"Command to Attack ship squadrons, all damaged ships are to report immediately to the Heavy Carrier Sapin for refit and repairs. Undamaged attack ship elements form up on the flanks."

>>18939944
It wasn't a major change in ship performance. Besides I like to keep things balanced, if you outfit your ship with endless tons of armor your ship is going to be a wallowing pig.

>>18940777
The wing you're assigned to is ordered to take up a position on the left flank relative above the fleet's plane of alignment. From here you have a clear view down the forward lines, 8000 ships make up the front ranks. The friendly starfighter squadrons don't stay out beyond the lines long, retreating as soon as the other attack squadrons have made it to safety.

More enemy ships are continuing to launch, some transports and carriers even jumping in from other parts of the system.

"Sure is a sight isn't it?" Asks the Lieutenant of no one in particular. "I've never seen anything like it."

The fleet begins a slow advance, nothing major but the fleet will certainly arrive in orbit within two or three hours. Every so often you catch something over fleet wide coms, the Admirals giving broad orders to make sure there's no interruption.
You've never heard of Fleet Admiral Quersett Ehkhif before today but someone couldn't make it to that rank without a bit of know-how.
"Starfighter squadrons, continue to wait in reserve."

"Alex what's happening, my sensors aren't cut our for making sense of this many contacts." Asks Mike.
"Looks like the enemy scarabs are holding just outside the fleet's effective range. They're falling back as we advance."

Red icons pop up on your screen centered on the cargo blocks of some older transports.
"Incoming missile volley!" Someone reports over fleet coms.
As missile trails begin to approach the fleet numbering in the hundreds or perhaps thousands you realize it isn't one transport firing them but one hundred. Some of the Scarabs outfitted with missile racks join in, filling the space between the fleets.
"Forward ranks, Fire!"
The fleet lines open up, doing their best to return fire or shoot down the missiles with their beam weapons. Regardless large numbers of missiles make it through, only to impact ineffectively against shields.

Alex continues to do hes best to keep track of the battle using his advanced sensors. "Looks like the majority of our corvettes are holding formation and letting their shields soak off the fire."

Even you can see though that some are not, causing the formation to fracture in places.

"This is Command to all ships, hold your formations unless ordered to do otherwise! Their barrage is not concentrated enough to threaten our corvettes. Hold your ground and they'll run out of munitions."


"Guys I'm picking up incoming heavy missiles." Says Alex drawing your attention to some contacts. The Admirals notice them too.

"Command to all ships, enemy cruise missiles have been detected. Front ranks, target them with phase cannon fire."

Hundreds of corvettes and frigates shift fire, the wall of energy weapons fire filling space concentrating on targets like great golden cones. Some beams shoot down incoming missiles but others miss entirely. Each of the smaller missiles hit have been scattering fine debis into the area, everything from aluminum chaff to smoke grenades appear to have been strapped to them. In seconds the fire accuracy of the front ranks drasticly decreases.

"What the hell its like they cant even see the missiles anymore." observes Mike.
"It must be the chaff."
"They must not be recieving telemetry from the more powerful sensor ships that can still see past it." Lt Sylvan says, he pauses for a moment checking something. "The Command ships are being flooded with requests for sensor data."

In the ensuing confusion some of the heavy missiles make it through the fire and strike ships from the forward squadrons. Unlike the smaller ones these have multiple warheads bundled together, enough to take out a corvette in one hit.

>>18941539
Well shit

>>18941539
Well, start relaying that data Alex.

>>18941539
"This is Fleet Admiral Ehkhif to forward Command ships, retransmit datapackets to all ships in your respective groups. Do not forward data requests to the primary command ship. All House Command ships are to retransmit their sensor data to neighbouring fleets."

The formation is in chaos but has not broken in its entirety. Collisions are being kept to a minimum thanks to shields and repulsors.

"Movement." reports Alex.
A red marker pops up on your display.
"The asteroids in geosync orbit are beginning to move. It appears they've dug engines into them. Both are on a course to intercept our fleet."
"You've got to be kidding me." Groans the LT "Transmit that up the chain of command."

"This is Knight Commander Winifred transmitting to all House Jarik-Dremine ships. They mean to finish breaking our formation with the asteroids and allow their Scarabs to get into knife fighting range with us. Their smaller ships will be able to make the best use of the confusion. If we let that happen any of our weapons fire that miss will have a higher chance of hitting friendlies. You should be recieving new orders from command momentarily."

It's a full minute before orders come down from Captain Idopid. "Attack squadrons, prepare to disable the engines on those asteroids. Some of our Medium cruisers are being moved up to assist, but I dont know how many. Heavies are remaining in reserve. Be aware, enemy friagtes are moving to flank us."

"This is Fleet Admiral Ehkhif to fleet, Attack Wings launch immediately. Corvette and Frigate units halt advance and begin transition to sphere formation."

>roll 1d20 for organisation regain rate

>Your orders?

rolled 10 = 10

>>18941890
Go for the astroid closest to our current position?

We should probably try to disable it from as far away as possible.

rolled 20 = 20

>>18941890
Take point for our squad and get ready to shoot some asteroids

I should have labeled that a bit better. There we go.

[ ] Cut between the enemy main lines and the Frigates?
[ ] Go farther around?
[ ] plot a micro jump out to another position in the system then jump back in
[ ] Forceful penetration through an enemy fleet group
[ ] other

rolled 59 = 59

>>18942085
Microjumpan

rolled 16 = 16

>>18942123
Now with the right dice

>>18942123
>>18942130
Okay. Anyone else in favor?

>>18942194
I am. Obviously not rolling, though.

>>18942085
It's way too late, and I don't really care as long as we don't repeat that disaster of choosing the knights errant.

Before the squadron can move out you contact the Lieutenant.
"Sir, we still have the nav data from our last micro jump right?"

"Yeah we should, the nav computer on most ships stores the previous couple jumps if possible."

"That Frigate group flanking the main fleet could turn and catch us before we get through to the asteroid. We should micro jump our wing back to the edge of the system then back in."

"That... could actually work. Hang on!"

"Attack Wing this is Captain Idopid. Change of plans. All ships align for FTL jump along the following vector."

"Sir, are we abandoning the fleet?" Someone asks.
"No. Get ready to call up the jump data from our previous micro jump as soon as we revert."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reBuz97GgBM

The Fifty strong fleet of Attack Corvettes and Attack Cruisers turned hard, breaking away from the rest of the fleet at full burn.

"Jump!" Ordered the Captain. In a milisecond the wing was at the edge of the system and turning hard to point themselves back at the fourth planet.

"Here we go again!" Yelled Sylavn between bouts of laughter.

"Our FTL was not built to do so many jumps this soon!" Protests Linda even as she activates cranks the system to full power. After the familiar flash of subspace tearing you're dropped back into the system at the edge of the gravity well. The asteroid is right in front of you, close enough to cause some nervousness as you haul back on the controls.

rolled 9 = 9

>>18942603
DAKKA DAKKA DAKKA!

rolled 17 = 17

>>18942893
Wrong die.

You fire your pulse cannon even as you pull up, the heavy weapons blasting hundred meter craters anywhere they hit.
"Break by squadrons, try to form up before attacking the engines." Orders the Captain as return fire starts to erupt from parts of the asteroid. Your gunners rake lines in the surface with the beam weapons throwing up clouds of debris. A stream of fighters launching from a bay you pass near are blown apart by your point defense gunners. So far the asteroid doesnt seem to have any shields.

A few hits shake you up as you pass over a larger docking bay, some corvettes and a frigate inside blasting away as they prepare to exit.

"Third Squadron on me!" Orders Sylvan, sending out a homing beacon. You continue to fight your way along the surface, shooting anything and everything you can until you link up with your superior. You arrive in time to see the rest of the squadron ganging up on a knock off battlecruiser. A torpedo salvo from the LT's ship rips one of the wings clear of the main body but doesnt stop the larger vessel from blasting through the forward half of a corvette.

"Glad that wasnt me, I nearly got wasted the last time we fought one of these." comments Mike.

"Cut the chatter and get formed up!" Orders Sylvan as he turns toward the aft end of the asteroid and the fusion flames being emitted from the engines.

"All squadrons, begin attacks on the engines in the next ten seconds. That should give us a good chance to split their fire." Orders the Captain as you get closer.

A few of the smaller fusion drives are on the surface and easily dispatched but the biggest one is buried deep inside.

"That's an awfuly deep crater." Someone comments as the squadrons try to look for the best way to attack the kilometer diameter engine.

"Fullpower to shields ladies and gentlemen. That engine wash is going to be just as dangerous to us as we are to it." With that Lt Sylvan rolls in attempting to use the narrow profile of his ship to slip in beside the engine thrust and the rock walls, firing all the way. He ducks the ship into the fusion flame momentarily, lighting up his shield but not slowing him down in the slightest. Six phase cannon beams from inside the tunnel strike his port shield collapsing it. The unprotected hull section turns black instantly then begins to burn away taking two of the sublight drives and half the weapons with it.
Sylvan's ship falls away quickly, some of the power reactors in the main hull starting to explode.

"Lieutenant!"
"Somebody tractor his ship!"

The ships from fourth flight are the closest and snag your CO's ship with their tractor beams, pulling the broken ship clear of the engine exhaust.

"All ships pull back." Orders the Captain. "Do not attempt an attack like that again. We'll have to find another way. Third squadron get your unit in order, we need to take out that engine some how."

>Your Orders?

>>18943246
Prepare to unload a whole lot of discount ordnance down some busta's engine tunnel crater thing?

>>18943246
is the "tunnel" the engine? or a nearby structure?

if separate, could we unload ordinance into that tunnel and try to use our ordinance and secondaries to disrupt or damage the engine's systems?

You and the remainder of the Third open fire on the edges of the engine tunnel blasting away at the surrounding rock, but its clear this could take all day. Fire from the other squadrons that attempt to target the center of the fusion flame seem to have no effect. Missiles and torpedoes are being blown off course by the strength of the engine's output.

"All squadrons watch yourselves, there are additional ships and fighters launching from docking bays on the asteroid surface."

The frigate and two corvettes that had taken a few shots at you earlier swing out around the asteroid's horizon firing as soon as they come into view. Between your energy weapons and a couple of torpedoes the frigate is soon a rapidly expanding ball of flame. The Corvettes don't last much longer, each hit by fire from three attack corvettes.

The Asteroid has covered half the distance to the fleet. They should have reformed their lines by now. You don't know why the Medium Cruisers haven't arrived to assist yet.

I might be doing a bad job at explaining things again. The last engine is buried deep inside the asteroid for protection.

>>18943690
>>18943837
This is still a >wat do
btw
Though it could be postponed until morning.

>>18944047
Man I dunno. That looks like a pretty tough nut to crack.

how about pushing some asteroids at the tunnel thing at full speed or droping a bunch of torpedos near it and then shooting at em and exploding them all at once?

rolled 2 = 2

>>18944077
AFAIK nukes should work pretty well in the engine wash considering that the gasses there ought to expand violently when the nukes detonate. As opposed to in space where it's more or less just a lot of gamma radiation.

As the Attack Squadrons jockey for firing positions around the asteroid you start to pic up unencrypted coms transmissions from the planet.
"-ree! Dro'all and Human alike have suffered for too long under the oppressive rule of the Royal Houses. They are interested only in maintaining the status quo and their own power. The children of the nobility receive schooling and training far beyond what is available to anyone else to ensure that they are the only ones who can excel in the society they've built. And what of us? What of those born without status or money, but with the intelligence or strength of will and character to exceed any of them? We are expected to lay down our lives, cast aside our possible accomplishments so that our children must begin this whole struggle again from a slightly better foothold.
I say no! We are all equals regardless of birth, regardless of species, regardless of bearing or class!
The downtrodden masses are the true people of the Dominion, not the nobility tha-" It breaks up for a moment as nukes go off, the interference blocking the signal.

"-e all brothers! Together we can create better worlds free of the division of class!"

"Today the blood of your oppressors will flow! For every one of them that falls ten of our brethren shall be free!"
Enough of that shit, you order your coms officer to block the channel.

Is that blind spot on the engine "map" actually a dead zone for the weapons? (the farther one)

if it is, could we effectively fire from that location?

if not, could we do a "peekaboo" attack and hit one of those defensive guns with our spinal weapons and take them out one by one?

>>18944506
You may have a point. I've been meaning to read "Shock Wave Structure for an Ionized Plasma" but I didn't really have a reason to do so until now.
(That and I don't want to pay money for a copy of "Implosive and re-explosive shock wave in magnetohydrodynamics." I somehow doubt I'll find a torrent for it. )
>Okay I finished reading that thing and it mostly just covers theoretical shocks inside fusion reactors, not drive streams.

Honestly I was more worried about the threat of beam weapons than nukes causing shock waves through the plasma, which admittedly does sound pretty cool.
My inner monologue has switched to Ross Scott/Gordon Freeman about now so these responses might seem a bit off.

>>18944715
There actually is a blind spot for the weapons farther out where you'll still be in the engine wash. You could fire but the effectiveness of firing on the engine from there might not be much better.

>if not, could we do a "peekaboo" attack and hit one of those defensive guns with our spinal weapons and take them out one by one?
That could work. It could also be time consuming (and potentially dangerous.)

There is a technology you wouldn't know about in character or be able to detect that could potentially make this engine a tough bitch to kill, and it already has that quality without it. Tough enough that I haven't even decided if it has it or not. ...but with House Kharbos having been a bag of dicks it would make sense for it to be in there.

For potentially being an asshole what I am going to do is give you guys a clue before I go to bed. Where did I put that picture.

>>18945143
I don't know if the picture's meant to suggest this, but if the engine was actually mounted somewhere else and using some sort of enormous magnetic field to direct its drive plume around a bend, we wouldn't be able to hit it directly without either diving into the plume itself or tunneling through the asteroid.

>>18945229
Thing might already have some tunnels.

Maybe drop some torps into one of the hanger bays and hope for secondaries?

>>18945245
We could just send a corvette or even a starfighter inside, Death Star-style. If we fire torps in willy-nilly, we might accidentally collapse an access tunnel and thus make reaching the engine from the outside impossible.

If it comes to it, assuming a corvette's shields could actually tank the plume for long enough, we could evacuate one of those and send it in on autopilot to either ram the engine and self-destruct or fire everything.

Should we look for smaller thermal exhaust port?

>>18945327
Couldn't hurt, if the asteroid's small enough to be scouted in the time we've got left.

rolled 1 = 1

I say we arc in nukes from outside the defensive guns line of fire, (yay for guided munitions). even if ionized gases are far inferior to air at carrying shock waves it would be a massive increase in the stopping power of nukes. if nothing else it will let us take shots at them without letting them take shots at us. i'm also willing to bet that having nuclear shock-waves there engine wash will do fun things to there engine.

roll is for accuracy if it is needed.

>>18945906
Successfully missed the asteroid.

rolled 11 = 11

>>18945906
Rolling for this.

its the avrage of up to 3 rolls right? could somone else make the last roll?

rolled 17 = 17

>>18946582
I'll give it a go.

>>18944586
North Gesaur is best Gesaur.

Okay so did you guys want to do these

>>18945245
>>18945295

Or this?
>>18945906

>>18948374
Erm, couldn't we simply destroy the asteroid's maneuvering thrusters instead and knock it off-course?

>>18948463
It only has the one main engine left which is lined up with the asteroid's center of gravity. Do you have a plan or idea that would help change its course?

>>18948374
I'm partial to the nuke shock wave, but I don't see why we can't have some starfighters scout the surface for other entrances simultaneously. In which case the death star strategy becomes plan b.

>>18948478
Does one of our fleet's bigger ships have a gigantic mass driver?

Or perhaps cause one of this things fuel tank's to explode, if they're close enough to the surface? Does the asteroid even run on inflammable fuel?

Maybe we could simply deform the engine's exhaust?

>>18948525
>but I don't see why we can't have some starfighters scout the surface for other entrances simultaneously.
You spotted at least 3 launch bays on your way to the aft end of the asteroid. Some of which were launching ships into combat as you passed. The rest of the squadron reports encountering similar numbers of entrances all over the asteroid.

>>18948534
Odds are fuel tanks are just as far inside as the engines are.
>Does the asteroid even run on inflammable fuel?
It looks to be a Helium 3/Deuterium powered system.

rolled 3 = 3

>>18948568
Launch nukes into every orifice including engine. Hope they have internal atmosphere.

>>18948593
Hmm, can't think of any action that could easily divert the asteroid, then.

Ask the crew if they have any ideas that could help with that plan.

You fire half your remaining missiles after getting help from the gunners with arcing them into the engine stream from a safe location. The missiles nearly lose guidance in the engine wash but detonate deep enough inside that you hope it has some effect.

"Did I hit anything?" You ask.
"I think you took out a pair of the embedded phase cannon turrets." Replies Alex "Firing missiles."
"Launching Missiles." Adds Mike as he does the same.

You can see the shockwaves disrupting the shape of the drive plume.

"I think thats about half of them."

"This is BS. Anyone from Third squadron, Launch nukes into every orifice this station has, including the engine."
The three ships dragging the LT's ship away turn back long enough to fire missiles. Captain Idopid orders all squadrons to do much the same.

"Allsquadrons, we're picking up incoming enemy ships, we must be approaching their front lines. Prepare to break off when I give the word. Launch your remaining missiles, we cant afford to stay put here much longer."

Fourty missiles streak in towards the engine and explode causing the engine's fusion plasma to erupt outwards like a giant bubble. Another one hundred missiles arc out to target the nearest launch bays.
"Phase cannons in the engine tunnel are destroyed... no noticeable effect to engine output."
"God damn."
A pair of secondary explosions light up a section of the asteroid to starboard where one of the launch bays were located.

You glance over at your sensor screen which has filled with red contacts. "Here they come."

"This is Idopid we are out of time. All ships follow me."

You follow orders, pulling away as the Captain leads you away from the engine towards the weakest part of the incoming wall of ships.

As you pass over one of the launch bays built to allow larger cargo ships to dock you spot a plume of escaping fusion plasma.

>wat do

>>18948720
If we have any munitions left, shoot them into that launch bay. Then focus on punching through the enemies attack and providing cover to any damaged friendlies.

>>18948731
Or rather, ask Kravos if shooting stuff in there might help.

"Third Squadron, dump any remaining munitions into that launch bay before we punch out of here." You order before turning to Kavos.
"You think this will do anything?"
"It has to be better than wailing away on solid rock for half of an hour which would been the alternative."

Those of you with Torpedo launchers cut your engines then point the nose of your ships at the bay to give the launchers an easier time. Seven torpedoes flash out towards the bay, pass through the opening then disappear behind the small plume. A few seconds later a fireball erupts from three or four of the open launch bays in your sight line. The asteroid's engine output stutters and drops by more than half before climbing back up to 60 percent of its previous power.

Roll 1d20 for attack wing escape.
(Or if you have some other plan roll 2d20.)

rolled 1 = 1

>>18948808
>Roll 1d20 for attack wing escape.
Bracing for nat 1s.

rolled 5 = 5

>>18948823
Fuck, sorry.

Well, it was a nice quest.

rolled 11 = 11

>>18948720

I assume the plume we spotted is coming up from the launch bay we're passing over...

in which case...

INCOMING BURST MISSILE! CLIMB! CLIMB!

(Or EVADE, if a hard burn to the side will clear us faster)

>>18948835

does my late, but originally pre-emptive call to evade still count?

rolled 17, 4 = 21

>>18948808
Relay our scans on the asteroid to central command so they focus longe ranged fire on the rock while the defenders are still busy with our squadron.

How many torpedoes and missles do we have left? I guess we're all out of nukes?

>>18948851
>>18948835
Meh, sure why not.

>>18948855
You personally still have thirty Torps left. All Attack squadrons have expended their nukes.

You order Alex to Relay your sensor data to the fleet.

>>18948891
'kay. Nothing more to do than weather the storm,

Is the board back up now? Figures.

You do your best to catch up with the other four attack squadrons in your wing once again, this time short of the Lieutenant's help. His ship is still being towed away in another direction. With any luck the Rebels wont notice it with the rest of the wing making a break through.

If you thought the fire was heavy on your last head to head with a formation of enemy ships you were mistaken. Keeping shields to double front helps cut down on the worst of the damage but there's still only so much damage you ship can take.
Your gunners still seem to be having a hard time aiming for the smaller ships, even moreso after spending a few minutes pumping fire into a giant target like the asteroid base. using the emergency thrusters to get out of the way of heavy fire is only so effective with so many ships present. In your wild maneuvering you're hit by a pair of Scarabs which smash through your shield. One crashes into a leading wing edge, while the other hits your topside hull ripping a point defense turret free.

Multiple hits from pulse cannon fire impact the armor and your portside Heavy Pulse cannon goes offline.
"All hands brace!" Warns Kavos before a torpedo impacts the main body and disables a sublight drive. Even with your crazed attempts at evasion another catches you in the bow near the torpedo launcher knocking it offline as well.Shields mercifully come back online before another barrage of pulse cannon fire can hit you.

The squadron breaks through looking much the worse for wear. The other squadrons not looking any better. The Captain points the fleet group towards the edges of the main lines, intending to swing in towards the support ships for repairs.

A momentary digression if you will, OP - this seems like a good place to find VoidQuest fans.

Those of you that want to see the quest return or are interested in long-running spaceship quests in general should go to Vedibere's google group on the subject and say so. He says if he gets enough replies he'll return.

Group is here: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/void-quest/oxI3jK7_gwU

Awesome quest, OP. Keep it up!

Getting a chance to check the whole situation you find that the other Asteroid has already been disabled. Medium Cruisers are almost done fighting their way through the flanking Frigate groups. Friendly starfighter squadrons are also starting to move out, either to assist the Mediums or in preparation for a strike on the remaining asteroid.

The Heavy Carrier Sapin has been overwhelmed by the numbers of damaged ships in need of repairs. Two dozen Corvettes have been docked on the outer hull, most of them missing a quarter of their mass or more. Some of the ships from the battle's opening attack run are beginning to launch after rudimentary repairs.
Concordance is beginning to take on damaged corvettes but their dock masters refuse to open up the bays for larger ships fearing they'll be tareted if the enemy breaks through the main lines.

As the minutes pass the asteroid draws closer to the fleet and fire from the sphere of corvettes and frigates begin to impact its surface. The Heavy and super heavy cruisers have already begun to reposition to evade the incoming rock. It wont be long now until the main formation is forced to scater or fall back.

You spot a large explosion from where the medium cruisers were fighting, one them bit the dust.

"Admiral Ehkhif to all attack wings, form up near Devil's Laughter and Concordance. We'll need fire support once the formation collapses. Wait for the friendly corvettes and Frigates get out of the way before you open up."

Sure enough, even as you watched the leading edge of the sphere formation began to fall back, staying just ahead of the incoming rock.

>>18949403
Fuck, we really screwed up.

>>18949371
Well that's pretty cool.

There's only one solution - RAMMING SPEED!

>>18949436
Just so long as you don't feel it would be unwanted competition. Same with this >>18947519 which I was thinking of delaying until I was sure you weren't grasping at some critical mass or something (I'm still reading the archives for House and Dominion).

>>18949462
I mainly just do this on Tuesdays which is pretty slow. Today is a bit weird as I dont normally have the day off to continue a thread. I have no idea how long I'll run this Quest, I don't exactly have a lack of material.
If you want to do a Homeworld quest go ahead, you don't need my permission. I just wish I had more time in a week to read as many of the other Quests as I'd like.

>>18949536
I hear you on the lack of time thing, yeah.

I'll proceed with the homeworld thing at whatever pace my projects allow. Just wanted to try and avoid competing with you, good spess quests are worth preserving.

The Admiral's voice dominates the fleet channel as the sphere begins to deform. "Starfighter squadrons fifty through one hundred, launch on attack vectors twenty three A and twenty three B. Corvette and Frigate sphere begin inversion!"

Two blocks of starfighters break away from their patrol orbits and head out on a parabolic course that will bring them in on the flanks of the asteroid. The sphere meanwhile splits open as though it were a bubble the asteroid had burst. The aft most elements of the formation move up alongside the main fleet as the others fall back, starting to form a cone around the larger ships of the fleet. A cone with a gap in the center large enough for the asteroid to pass through with room to spare.

"Attack Squadrons and heavy warships open fire."
You pull the trigger firing your remaining heavy pulse cannon while your gunners open up with their remaining weapons.

Devil's Laughter and Concordance drift apart as the asteroid comes on, using their tractor and repulsors to keep a safe distance. All the while the countless guns and turrets on both ships open fire on the asteroid's surface. Within a minute both of the long ships are passing broadside to the giant rock, able to maximize their fire output.

The rest of the formation is almost finished taking positions and the walls of phase cannon fire resume. Light attack ships expecting to take advantage of a disorganized formation are caught off guard. Those that rush in end up facing hundreds of pop up point defense guns and box missile launchers aboard the pair of Super Heavies.
You note the starfighter squadrons sent out earlier have disappeared just before explosions start to rock the aft end of the asteroid. Some of the starfighters come speeding out of the enemy hangars but most do not reappear.

Within thirty seconds of the initial explosions the aft ten kilometers of the asteroid is blasted clear of the main body as reactors for the main engine go super critical.

The rest of the enemy fleet that had been using the mobile base for cover launch a last all out attack on the fleet. With rocks, debris and point defense fire beginning to fill space you aren't sure who is going to have the easier time.

Roll 1d20 to weather the storm.

rolled 4 = 4

>>18949813
My rolls have been terrible so far. One last try.

rolled 4 = 4

>>18949827
Oh, ffs.

>>18949837
>>18949827
Tell me this was the same person twice.

>>18949860
Yep, it was. No more rolls from me.

Anyone else left around?

rolled 19 = 19

>>18950009
Rolling for save

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkrGh9sT9Ic

"Attack Squadrons continue firing. Medium Cruisers fall back behind the corvette screen."

You and the other attack ships begin to space yourselves apart just enough to have room. Contacts fill space all around you and for once you're glad that this isnt a maneuver fight. All of the ships in the nearby wings pour fire through the gap in the front of the formation even as the bulky Heavy Cruisers move up to help fill it.

"I sure wish those cooling systems had arrived." You mention as you watch the heat on your one good heavy pulse cannon.
"Just as well, the cooling systems would have been damaged by fire." Kavos replies.

A section of the formation closest to the gap begins to crumble under concentrated enemy fire. Light attack ships and fighters begin to pour through but hundreds of Dominion fighters are waiting for them.

"Third Attack Squadron, move up and help block that gap in our lines."
"Yes sir." you answer and tell the others to follow.

The incoming enemy fire isnt too heavy at first, most of them trying to attack the backside of the corvette formation. It picks up though as your gunners begin to rack up kills. Before long the squadron is blind firing using only sensor data provided by the better equipped ships.

You make out three Scarabs on a collision course with you and resolve to wait until the last minute to dodge. Mike and your gunners knock down one then you hit the emergency thrusters to dodge the second and fire your portside heavy pulse cannon at point blank to hit the third. You belatedly realise that cannon is offline when the ship impacts with your shield, sending your ship rolling to the side coliding with Alex's corvette.

"Alex you okay?!"
"Get clear, I cant fire half my weapons." Alex tells you, as the two of you try to get some distance. The second ship that missed is torn appart by starfighter fire.

Once you get back into position you notice that a grou pf fifty corvettes is missing from the main line of the formation.

"All ships on alert, watch for Kamikaze attacks."

Before long the returning Medium and Light Cruisers have begun moving up to fill the gaps. Any other spare ships are taking up position at the edges of the formation cone. The Formation continues to move past the dead asteroid base towards the planet, driving the enemy before them.

The propaganda broadcast from the planet begins to cut in on a wider number of channels as the fleet closes in.
"I ask the fleets of the oppressors in orbit who even now try to crush our independence; Do you think we will ever be defeated? Do you think the struggle to cast down your kind will ever end? You can kill us, shackle or destroy our bodies but we will never stop. You will never be rid of us and those like us who fight for freedom. You-"

"Admiral Ehkhif to fleet, ignore the broadcasts. Heavy Cruisers begin bombardment of the planetary shield as soon as we're within range, be careful not to over do it. All Carriers standby to launch atmospheric fighters. Transports prep troops for immediate assault."

A wave of enemy ships pull back to get some distance then hurl themselves at Devil's Laughter. Support fire from the Attack squadrons thin the enemy ranks significantly before they can reach the command ship. Shields on the big ship flicker and a few get through to hit armor but it seems to have little effect on the heavily upgraded warship.

"We're within range. Commence bombardment."

The battle continues to range but its clear to everyone that the defenders have little time left with their dwindling numbers.

After ten minutes the planetary shield falls and the assault begins.

>See you next week.

>>18950615
I'm surprised our ship managed to survive the 1 I rolled in one piece.

Until next week, then.

>Site keeps going down.
Server migration?

>>18950666
You had a number of things going for you.
-Upgraded shields that keep saving your asses
-Additional armor which means you were taking bad armor damage instead of internal hull damage
(Armor was thick enough that a torpedo detonated between armor layers instead of inside the hull of your ship. That would have been bad.)
-Emergency thrusters which give a +4 to maneuver. I automatically apply it on a roll of 4 or lower unless somebody asks me to do otherwise. (The more it's used the higher chance of structural failure.)
-Roll averaging. This is easily the biggest one

>>18951116
was
>>18950106
roll counted?

Also I think it's DDoS

>>18951164
yes it was.

FRACK! I missed it!

I just had a question, if anyone can answer it. I'm new, and I read through the archives and I got confused by one thing. At what point did the pilot also become the captain of the ship?

>>18952419
I think that is just how it is in this setting.

>>18953179
Just checking. It seemed off to me.