[panzerman]

Part 2- Its was a long chapter...

ADULT LANGUAGE!!

“Nice job Rev’, hows about next time you do that before I get shot?” Tan was bringing his Crusader in a loop over Asher, at the last second he redlined the top two Impact drives, spinning him back down on top of the fighter who was trying to line up Asher. A short burst of the EM-50 tore him out of the sky. “See, that’s how its done mate.” Asher quipped back “Seems like I’m still one up on ya old buddy, but I’m sure your used to that!”

On board ASF Majestic

“ Five enemy torpedoes dispersed, five more will impact in one minute twenty seconds ma’am, all appear to be targeted at the England.”

“The England?! That’s almost insulting, Ensign, patch me to Captain Stark.”

“Roger ma’am.

“England, the Crucible ships have selected you as primary. Take evasive action immediately.” It made some sense after all, five torpedoes could cause complete shield failure on the England while the Majestic would shrug them off with little effect.

“Approaching FAP cannon range ma’am.”

“Roger Ensign, all hands brace for impact, link the England to our AI once the torpedoes have impacted.”

The Crucible FAP cannons fired, eight from the Battle Cruiser and four each from the Luther’s. The AI quickly confirmed they had targeted the England. “Is the England linked to our AI yet?” “Yes ma’am, link confirmed.” “Excellent, initiate evasive maneuver package delta five for the England.” “Roger, ma’am, initiating evasive maneuvers.” The Majestic’s AI was far superior to that of the older cruiser and would prove far more effective at evading the Crucible barrage.

Nano-seconds passed, a bright flash erupted from somewhere between the Majestic and the England, who still had not moved from her previous course, the super concentrated bolts of protons where only moments from impact. “Ensign, move the ******* ship now or they are scrap!”

“I’m trying ma’am!” Another bright flash.

“Ma’am!” It was the Comms officer “The Crucible has launched a scrambler net, the EM flashes are disrupting our subspace transmitters, every time we send out a signal, it sets off one of the EM charges!”

Too late commander Price relinquished command of the England and both Mako’s. Five torpedoes struck just forward of the England’s superstructure, overloading her shields and ripping armored deck plates apart. All 16 bolts then impacted the doomed cruiser. With her shields down there was little to stop the proton bolts from ripping the ship apart. The FAPs had been aimed amidships topside, the angle of approach causing them to impact at a low angle-of-attack, ripping the England’s hull completely off the topside decks. The containment fields for the fully charged plasma cannons failed, releasing giant blue gusts of star-hot plasma. The ship, completely engulfed in plasma, listed hard to port and began to drift, still being ripped apart by secondary explosions. Price involuntarily gasped at the sudden loss of her second heaviest ship. Anger and vengeance now replaced excitement and anticipation.

The fight for space superiority was raging between the two ships. Clouds of relatively tiny fighters swirled every which way, with small explosions marking the death of some anonymous pilot. The IFF readouts on the tactical holonet indicated that most of the explosions were Raptors, but their numbers were slowly winning the day. The ‘net also showed the Gabriel’s shields at 40%, the torpedoes had done their job.

“Ma’am, we are within plasma range, request permission to fire.” “Affirmative, release all batteries on the Crucible battle cruiser, make those fanatics pay!” The ‘net screen suddenly filled with giant balls of whirling plasma. While they where slow in comparison to the Crucible FAP cannons, even one impact could cause severe damage. “Ma’am, the Crucible cruisers are moving to cover the flagship!”. She expected this, the cruisers still had full shields and could survive one or two hits, which was fine, they were next anyways and the torpedo mags had recharged. “Fire all torpedoes, full spread, let’s give them something to dodge, order all fighters to cease combat and release their torpedoes!” She sat back with a knowing smile. The Raptors had suffered heavy casualties, but there were still dozens in operation, all releasing smaller versions of the Majestic’s torpedoes. The ‘net was filled with tiny blue dots, all heading towards the Crucible fleet at random angles. There was no way the Crucible ships could dodge all these.

She watched anxiously the plasma bolts streaking towards the enemy. The myriad of full and micro torpedoes only seconds behind. This was the principle Alliance strategy in fleet warfare, overwhelming firepower. The Crucible had better shields and fighters, but even the ultra-fast, long ranged FAP cannons couldn’t hold a candle to a single ball of plasma. She smiled when the first of the plasma reached a target, the ‘net identifying it as the CSF Grace. The ship was soon engulfed as the plasma spread out to cover the unfortunate ships shields, completely overwhelming them. A second bolt clipped the Grace’s bow, cleanly removing the forward-most ten meters of the ship. Another two bolts caught the Faith amidships, leaving nearly all of the ships port side armor a molten slag. She glanced back to the torpedoes, the nail in the coffin. Four of them suddenly burst in mid-flight, three more followed.


Free-space, SSF-13a Crusader, tail number 02

“ Whats that, 12 for me, six for you?” Asher loved pushing Tans buttons. “Yeah mate, but if you notice, I haven’t let them touch you, Ive taken more hits than a pachyderm in a hailstorm!” Tan really was worried, the last engagement had cost him his lower port side impact drive.

“Hey, don’t blame me for your mediocre piloting old buddy, Im doing my best to keep you alive.” Asher said.

The Lion’s were beginning to get the upper hand, though too many of their shipmates had already fallen. Suddenly the enemy fighters broke off and began torpedo runs towards the Gabriel. “****, frag ‘em fast boys and girls, don’t let them get off those torpedoes!” It was too late, the 26 remaining Raptors all launched their micro torpedoes. In doing so, they lost half their number, the rest did their best to bug out, flying full throttle towards the Majestic, hoping her point defense systems could buy them a safe landing.

“Tan…the Gabriel cant survive this, the damned carrier just launched her torps’ too...” Asher’s tone took a turn for the serious. “ Roger that mate, what you propose we do.” Tan had a good idea of what needed to be done, but the thought of his wife and kids waiting for him in Antioch turned his stomach.


“ Don’t give me that **** Tan, pass the word or I will!” Asher was serious, he may not be the man his father was, but he was still a man of God, the Word was worth more than his self.

“Lions of Judah, this is Commander Archer, initiate fleet defense plan omega three nine zero, do your fragging best to punch out, but in the end, remember what we are fighting for.” Tan couldn’t believe he had given the order. “Rev’, you think you could give us some inspiring words?”


Asher looked down at his Crucifix, using his faith to strengthen his resolve “Psalm 18 of the revealing; ‘The Lord is my rock’” Asher vectored his Crusader towards the nearest Torpedo, “ ‘My fortress and my deliverer’” The blue-white glow of the neutron cluster filled the cockpit “ It is he in whom I take refuge, he is my shield and the horn of my salvation!”

On board Alliance carrier Majestic

“What the hell is going on with the torpedoes? Are they firing FAP cannons?”

“Negative ma’am, the Crucible fighters are ramming them!” ****. She hadn’t thought of that. The fanatics where known for self sacrifice, but this went beyond the norm. Nearly every one of the torpedoes met with a similar fate.

Another barrage was incoming from the Gabriel, the AI indicated that the Black Tip was the intended target. With no communication, she could only hope that the Captain moved the ship in time.

“Captain, I am receiving transmission from Dartmouth station, but the scrambler net is ******* up the signal, it is coming in over an emergency channel!” “Scan the station, see if there are any more Crucible ships in system. How long until plasma recharge?” “45 seconds captain, one minute 30 seconds on the torpedoes.” “The Black Tip has taken multiple hits Captain, no readout in the AI, but I would say she is finished” “Negative on that scan ma’am, I believe the EM blasts are fragging our sensors, the scan showed nothing, not even Dartmouth station.” “Copy that, must be a problem in aft sensor array, forward sensors are working fine, launch a probe” “Yes ma’am.”

The Gabriel was firing another barrage, probably to finish off the Black Tip. The two Crucible heavy cruisers were heavily damaged and seemed to be acting as a torpedo screen, re-directing all power from the FAP cannons to the point defense systems. Three torpedoes lanced out from the Gabriel as she turned to face the carrier.

“Plasma online ma’am.” Finally. “ Target the Gabriel, direct path, she has no room to maneuver now!” Plasma raced out from the Majestic on a straight course for the Gabriel. The battle cruiser fired her emergency thrusters and flipped 180 degrees upward. Another common Crucible maneuver, nicknamed the ‘Porpoise’, exposing the heavily armored belly of the battle cruiser. Three plasma bolts impacted roughly 100 meters apart. The shields overloaded within nano-seconds, the plasma began eating away at the armored underside of the Gabriel.

“Direct hit, sensors show her flight deck has been destroyed, all capacitors overloaded. She’s a goner Captain!” Cheers followed, it seemed that the battle would soon be over. “She’s not dead yet, torpedoes online?” “In twenty seconds ma’am.” “Target the Gabriel’s superstructure, flight pla…” Price was cut off by the weapons officer “Ma’am, aft sensor array is picking up anonymous energy reading 100 kilometers aft.” This was puzzling, it would make sense for the Station to begin charging her defense platforms, but they were at least 2000km behind them, and if the aft array could detect an energy reading, why could it not detect the station?

“Patch it into the ‘net, are torpedoes ready to fire?” “Five seconds ma’am!” The ‘net now showed empty space. Where could the energy be coming from? Had a fighter snuck around their flank? Price dismissed the thought, a fighter couldn’t possibly harm the Majestic, nor did a fighter’s reactor generate enough energy to trip a sensor alarm. She panned the viewer 45 degrees in either direction, saw nothing, then centered again. Just as she was about to switch back to forward, four beams of blue light projected from an empty area of space, illuminating the aft portion of her ship, then they flashed a brilliant white.

“We are hit! Shields down, hull breeches on levels zero through forty! Containment fields activated, main reactor offline!” The weapons officer was clearly terrified.

“What the **** was that!?” The lights dimmed. Emergency lighting colored the CiC in a ghostly red. The ‘net flickered and went down. “We have been hit by PAC cannon ma’am, main reactor offline, secondary reactor at 30% and dropping!” The Gabriel was now closing on them. The Black Tip was out of commission and the Thresher was heavily damaged. The Raptor fighters would be helpless without their link to the Majestic’s AI. This battle was over, but she would not hear anyone cheering her name anytime soon. Fear was back, how long now until the Gabriel finished them off? Price thought about her husband and newborn back on Mars and began to cry.