On Dark Tides.. (Fleeters/Open/Space Battle!)

[RC 212]

Captains Log: Month 12, seventh day after the Mutiny

///Begin://

It has come to pass finally. After a series of bad raids and failed attempts at subduing the fringe worlds of the Techno Union, the crew of the fleet finally turned against me. Not to say I hadn't seen this coming. I am no fool and have served under many a Captain and rode with many a crew.

Terath, that slippery First Mate of mine was always the silent one, and silent ones tend to be dangerous. I caught wind he plotting my demise long before he even initiated the mutiny. How does an Admiral about to be marooned deal with such a thing?

He gathers his closest Captains to him, and set's a watch. Which is exactly what I did. When all was said and done, in the end I did lose the fleet and many good sailors with it. But the traitors still caught on-board the the BlackJacks Revenge I had flayed alive and strung from the hull.

A warning to the rest, whom might dare to cross their Admiral.

Now we are headed to the Ablajeck Sector to Xal3. I hear they have a few veteran pilots there, and this crew needs a good bit of rebuilding. More to follow.

//End//


Beep! Beep!

Acturus frowned, moving his eyes to the datascreen and setting down his glass of whiskey. They were close to their destination, what could of such importance to disturb the Admiral During his downtime?

He opened the line, touching the screen of the data terminal with old and wrinkled fingers. In his other hand was cane he leaned upon. He was grizzled, barely standing, but still here and still kicking at that. There was nothing so good as a stalwart man and his iron determination in the galaxy.

"I trust this is deathly Important XO?"

"Aye Sir, we just made contact with a few freighters of the northern vectors. They appear to be on a Quick hurry towards the Core. Two Marauder Class Corvettes in tow."

The Admiral stroked his chin, letting his salt and pepper beard comb through his fingers.

"What's the status of our ship? Are we still battle-worthy?"

"Couple of systems down after the mutiny. We still have interdictors, weapons and sublights."

"Excellent. Set Crew to action stations. I'll be joining you shortly on the bridge."

"Aye Sir, I'll get it done.... You been drinking again?"

"None of your Concern XO." Valerian managed between a small burp.

"Aye Sir, We'll be expecting you."

Velarian closed the link, letting his thoughts swirl in his head, inebriated by the crystalline amber whiskey. There was a battle to be had today. Oh yes, today was the start of something new. With old bad blood free of his crew, it was great day to rebuild.

He strode towards the door, the promise of battle and plunder propelling him. They slid open with a whoosh and he exited the lavish cloth clad quarters into cold steel hallways...

Vessel: BlackJacks Revenge- Privateer Class Frigate

 

[ADM. Reshmar]

Captain Moore sat int he command chair aboard the Macons Folley. The old Marauder-class corvette had been assigned escort duty to a worthless group of haulers and freighters bound for the core. Here now with some other captain he had never heard of nor cared to know the group had dropped out of hyperspace to change course and let the hyperdrives rest on a couple of the old buckets in the commerce fleet. They had been having to drop out far too much for Moore's liking. At least one of the freighters had some seriously old and dis-repaired hyperdrive motivators. Now here they sit in the darkness of space waiting once again for the group To be able more than ready to jump.

"Con, Tactical.... New contact bearing one five seven by four five." came the voice of the ships tactical station watch officer. He and his assistant sat at the tactical station staring intently at their monitors. "Frigate size vessel captain, one point three million kilometers and accelerating." said the man as he turned to acknowledge the captain now staring back at him.

"Major, have they tried to contact us? What is their transponders telling you?" asked the captain as he thought about the implications of who or what they might be. A hush fell over the bridge of the the Macons Folley as the captain waited on an answer from the officer.

"So far they have not initiated any contact nor can I receive their IFF or transponder data at this range. Our sensor array seems to be damaged. I think it is from that last stop with the asteroids. One slammed into one of our arrays." said the officer. Moore cursed under his breath, who were these idiots speeding towards the convoy. He shook his head and sighed. He would have to contact that idiot on the other escort and ask for help. Maybe his sensors were working.

[member="Valerian Valkyrie"]

 

[RC 212]

[member="Reshmar"]

Alarms blared throughout the hull of the old Frigate as Valerian stepped onto the bridge. His breath was enough to fill the entire place with aura of a strong musky fragrance. He was definitively drunk and charged up. It had been some time since the Ex-Admiral had dealt a god thrashing to his foes, or even to anyone for that matter.

Colonel Velnar, or what had been a Colonel at one point greeted him with a quick salute.

"Officer on deck!"

"Enough with the nonsense XO. Give me the situation report, and quickly at that."

A pained look crossed the XO's face. He was a drop-out from the Republic Naval academy, but shrewd and cunning. Valerian had picked him up on a Piracy run near the core, where the youngster had begged to be of service. He was too rigid, and formal, something Valerian hated.

"No hails as of yet. They appear to have not noticed us. We have all thirty six fighters on the deck and ready to launch, weapons hot, shields up."

Valerian nodded, and sank into his chair. It was old and raggedy, the lush threads stripped away to reveal nothing more than steel and wood. Not very comfortable for the old man.

Two taps of the arm brought a sector map up before his face and holographic controls.

"Deploy Copy Cat pod's and make full speed for the target. Standbye to launch fighters on my mark."

"Aye Sir, shouldn't we at least contact them? Give them a chance to surrender."

A flame roiled up in Old Valerians chest. The XO's quips were grating on his nerves.

"Negative, I'm not in the mood to give quarter today. I want the Marauders kept intact, the Freighters I care less about."

"But Sir-"

"Be silent whelp. I was flying Privateer fleets before you were even born. Now please, activate Interdictor wells."

"You heard him!"

The Black Jacks Revenge burned hot through the stars. They were closing in quick, gravity wells pulsing as power was fed into their basins. Valerian frowned, pressing his lips tight together at the sight of the approaching vessels.

"Maximum power to Ion Cannons, prepare firing solutions on Marauder Engines.."

 

[ADM. Reshmar]

[member="Valerian Valkyrie"]

Captain Moore looked out the viewport s the dot now visible in the distance. It looked like any of the hundreds of stars visible but he knew better. The Sensors of the ship had lost contact several times over the last few minutes, but now they seem to be working. The ship still had not attempted to contact the group so Moore had to assume they meant them malice.

"Major, anything new on the contact? can you tell me what it is beyond frigate sized?" ask Moore of his Tactical watch officer. The man shook his head ad spoke.

"No sir, our long range scanner is damaged. Until we can get out on the hull and repair it were blind till they get into our passive short ranged sensors." said the man looking up to speak to the captain. He looked back down at the screen waiting until it got close enough for the short ranged systems to work. the man heard Moore curse out loud then went back to playing the waiting game.

Moore sat back in his chair trying to calm down. He was enraged, this kind of think did not happen in the military. He never should have left. Go into civilian work, his wife said. We need money the wife said. Well now he wondered what she would say if he died. "Damn Harpy" he cursed at the thought of her. Moore shook off the thought of his wife and set his full attentions on the problem at hand.

"Helm, Move us into a defensive position above and to the flank opposite the incoming ship of that central freighter. Match its speed and hold position there till we have a better idea about what we are up against." ordered Moore. He had an idea which he knew might get him fired. But it just may save his life if it came to fighting something mean. He sat back to play the same waiting game the rest of the forces were playing. Captains of transports and freighted constantly called asking questions. So far Moore had no answers so he had sent all the calls to the other Marauder corvette's comm people. for now they moved along slowly waiting for the distant foe to get close or for the old ships in the fleet to be able to jump.

Then something truly terrible happened. "Sir, Interdictor field!" Moore winced at the statement his tactical officer exclaimed.

 

[RC 212]

[member="Reshmar"]


"Sir the targets are manuevering. One changing Vector, high and left of the main force."

Valerian nodded, studying the tactical lay out before him with cool eyes. They were within range now, and in perfect position to strike. He wanted those Marauders for his fleet, but if they resisted too much he would be forced to destroy them. The Freighters were of no real threat, those could be dealt with for now.

"Very well, deploy Copy cats."

Several pods jettisoned from the side of the Black Jacks Revenge, deck thumping as they went. More blips appeared on the map as they activated, washing the sector with their decoy signal. Now it would look like four Frigates closing in. The shock factor alone was hat he was looking for.

Demoralizing the foe made an easier victory.

Valerian ran hand through his beard again and then pointed to the map.

"Scramble Fighters, split into two forces, thirty on the right of us, six remaining on the left. Squadron Commanders are to standbye for targets. Weapons, open fire with Ion's and Turbolasers, target the manuevering Vessel."

"Aye Cap'n fighters away!"

"XO range to intercept?"

The XO leaned over the holotank on the lower deck, making a quick calculation and then casting his glance upwards into Valerians old and soulless eyes.

"We have five minutes until we are at boarding range. Shall I prepare boarding teams Sir?"

"Aye that'd be acceptable. Alert all Gunships and Boarding Pods."

Klaxons blared across the fleet as Z-95 Headhunters swarmed from her belly, racing in tight formations to her sides. Valerian kept a steely eye leveled on the screen, watching everything play out as planned. The trap was set, the decoys cast.

Twin tubrolaser beams streaked across the void, ripping towards the Marauder. A series of pulsating ion particles fired in quick succession, stitching white hot beams towards the target as a secondary fire...

 

[ADM. Reshmar]

[member="Valerian Valkyrie"]

Moore slammed his fist on his chair arm. On the screen four large contacts sped at him and the transports. Each a sitting duck against the incoming forces. The captain of the second Marauder had sent him a message asking him to move his ship into position to move in and engage the incoming force. Frack that madness, that fool can do what he wants. I will sit here and use the shields of the transports and the ships themselves as protection.

"Sir, the central contact is launching fighters." exclaimed the tactical officer from his station. This was great how much worse can it get. He paused to take in this new information then asked a question. "How many attack craft major?" he asked.

"Sir, it looks to be in excess of thirty. It is still uncertain till they are all out in the open." said the tactical officer. Moore shook his head then looked out at the transport his ship was moving over. Then the ship shook violently as fire washed over its shielding.

"Helm, move us in behind the transport!" shouted Moore. The ship sped up and moved down beside the transport using it as a shield for a moment. Moore gathered his mind and though about what to do next.

"Helm, tactical maneuver delta five three. Tactical take our shots as we peak, focus or shielding on our ventral hull." ordered Moore. A second later the corvette did a roll out and away from the transport it had been using to shield it then continued it down and under the ship monumentally bringing its weapons into a clear arc. Twenty bolts of blazing red plasma struck out at a ship in the distance. as the guns fired the ship continued its roll bringing its ventral hull to bear as it moved up and over the transport on the flank facing the incoming enemy. Bolts of ion fire and turbolasers slammed into it washing energy and rippling the shielding of the ship. The ship finished its maneuver rolling up and over the top of the transport bringing its weapons to bear one more time striking out once again with its dual turbolaser cannons before rolling back over and behind the transport.

back in the momentary safety of the transports shadow Moore spoke. "Report major? what did we hit?" ask Moore. The tactical officer looked confused and concerned. He looked up from the scanner console at the ships captain and shook his head. "Nothing sir, we hit nothing."