Vipers Venom (( FT, attention Dolmholdi ))

by **Mektavia** » Mon Aug 13, 2012 9:04 pm

In Mektavia's efforts to grow it's borders in the galaxy which it resided, a series of scans indicated a prime candidate for the next location which would become a member of the Mektavian territories. The Largest fleet of warships, the 1st Aggressor fleet moved silently through the void of space, hurdling towards a large section of space which was supposedly rich in habitable planets and ore rich asteroids. The commander of the flagship, and therefore the entire fleet sat on the bridge of the super-battleship "Achilles", watching the void of space pass by, He looked around, noting the lack of decor on the bridge, out of the peripheral screens of the viewport showed a second superbattleship, the Achilles escort "Helios" moved at the head of the 200 odd strong fleet of ships.

"All ships, keep current heading and formation".

A wing of scout fighters veered past the bridge, heading out to verify if the area ahead is safe or not, As they rolled to one side, A second squadron rolled to the opposite side "This is vulture wing, sector 2-2-1 is clear"

by **Dolmhold** » Tue Aug 14, 2012 7:01 am

Y192 IA 3:4:8:3:67:11
Destroyer Squadron Shanghai'd
Local Space X-5B1

These men were loyal, strong and brave. They worked hard and were ranked high whenever it was any form of excersize. They trained hard, converting much of their knowledge into experiance, and yet-

They were all Shanghai'd into the space forces. Intimidated into joining by their peers already in the space forces or as a way to save their honour. Even though the days of behaving like a shanghai'd being into the space forces was over, the male-dominated destroyer squadron named Shanghai'd still referenced their past on it and made plenty of jokes.

When they applied late and didn't get a choice of where they were going to be deployed however, they never realized that by being shanghai'd into a system between the four core worlds, that should be boringly safe, would instead net then this-

"Captain, our infarred detectors report... Over two hundred new contacts, all spacecraft." A deep voice cut through the local inner space, shattering the iron curtain of silence with a mighty blow that alerted everyone else.

Usually, the local network was filled with more chatter then maggots on a dead carcass, but life in the tyranny of boredom mixed with a few jokes taken wrongly resulted in the construction of the iron curtain between the men. Not any more.

"Two hundred... Are you serious? That many ships and yet they haven't been detected yet. That is not cool. We can only hope that they aren't of high quality or of hostile intent. Open up a channel Besn. Everyone else, prepare in case for the worst." Rear Marshal Ridney Lao ordered him, as a new static of communication filled inner space, instructions and data mobbing them like packs of hungry wolves. Only that it was they who were hungry for the data.

The electrostatic hum of the supercapacitors charging up resonated across the CSSC Fallen Angel I, the sound of the multireaction engines noted with a mix of strength and fear as fired in a not so perfect unison with the other ships scattered around the system, hoping to get within ten light-seconds of each other while approaching the newcomers on a correct vector.

The speeds of which the ship traveled at was slow. Fast, but in the expances of space, slow. It took a lot of burn time to achieve .05C, or a thousand fife hundred kilometers per second. The new contacts were at least sixteen hours away. Unlike the transmitted message, which should only take sixteen minutes.

Attention.

This is the Destroyer Squadron Shanghai'd of the Committee for Collective Security. You are in the space of the Dolmholdi Collective without previous permission- your signature is alien. Turn back or identify yourself, state any arms, and prepare to be escorted. Failure to comply will result in a taste of our missiles.

As the dark hulls of the ships, destroyer and corvette alike, glowed brillianty across the infarred spectrum of electromagnetic radiation in the darkness of the cosmic background, they approached the new contacts with a mixture of fear and courage, like a pack of wolves taking on an even larger pack of lions. The nose turret was directly pointed at the new targets, but as the visual returns came back, it was evident that they too were warships.

"Captain, what if they are of hostile intent?" Another voice asked timidly.
"Oh no, Sonnin, they ain't gonna Shanghai us into their navy," the captain responded, laughter cutting through as they understood the joke. "They ain't gonna shanghai us!"

by **Mektavia** » Tue Aug 14, 2012 8:30 am

The captain of the Achilles nodded when one of the radio operators informed him that there was a message that had come from deep space. He was curious who was trying to contact them, when he listened to it though, he let out a small sigh "Heh, Dolmholdi space... Not any more". The captain stood up, towering over his crew, and with a powerful wave of his hand, the entire fleet sped up. "All ships, combat stance." He roared over the communications array to the other ships, as he looked to the radio operator, he grinned "Send them a message."

"I am captain raxum tathum of the 1st Heavy fleet, representative of Mektavia. This system contains valuable raw materials and living space that the people of Mektavia need in order to prosper. Stand down and immediately leave the system, or face our cannons in battle".

His intention wasn't to force them to leave, quite the opposite, he wanted to make it so there only option would be a battle.

Aboard the Battleship "Sovereign Vanity" the captain was the embodiment of his ships name and prideful history. He looked callously into the viewport, but not to watch the expanse of space around him, but instead to see his own reflection. A younger girl sitting next to him was slowly scanning all the consoles on the lower deck, taking in all the information "My lord, The commander just gave out a combat stance alert, we should prepare." She said, her voice was sweet and soft spoken, yet she seemed to know more than she let on.

Aboard the bridge of the Achilles, the captain had finally managed to calm himself, sitting down and resting his head on his arm "Finally, a fight".

by **Dolmhold** » Tue Aug 14, 2012 10:01 am

Y192 IA 3:4:8:5:17:42
Destroyer Squadron Shanghai'd
Local Space X-5B1

All blood seemed to drain from the Rear Marshal's face, both in his digital avatar's pale yellow and old-appearing face, and his floating body's young and steadfast face, as he read and understood the significance of the reply from the Mektavian fleet. Mektavia.

"By the Singularity..." He muttered under his breath, exasperated as he realized what the case was. While this was far from being a core system, it was vital that it was under the steadfast control of the Committee for Collective Security- Failure to do so could result in the breeding of a nest of worms, a virus of metal and blood that composed to an enemy's forward operating base to destroy the collective and all of its achievements.

"They're actually trying to shanghai us?" Joked Besn, unaware that the effective answer was indeed-

"Yes, that are indeed trying to shanghai us. They've declared this system to be theirs, and are trying to expel us. Read it." The rear Marshal Ridley replied frantically, realizing that this meant that they'd actually see real combat action. Out of all of their "experiances" that they had converted from knowledge, actual combat was not one of them.

Besn's own digital face began to loose its fire as well. Silently, he knew he had nothing to fear. If he died here, his being was not dead, but he could not help but mutter, "Who divides by zero..." as he and the other members of the Destroyer squadron tried regained their composure. This would be their first action. They were new to this.

"I want all of you alive and awake at a hundred percent, even if it means that you will have to dope your goddam body with those chemicals, everyone stand by for orders. Report back to the Committee and every other Destroyer Squadron and fleet we can wormhole message within twenty light years." The Rear Marshal ordered, his face renewed with determination as he knew what to do.

"This is no longer a drill. This is no longer an 'experiance party'. This is not a wargame. This is reality. This is war. Each of you are fine men, understand this! We will pull through against these numbers until support can arrive, and even if support can not arrive, we will somehow defeat them single-handedly whether that be by deceit or by sheer force. We will prevail," The Rear Marshal shouted across inner space, the communication lag meaning that some of the corvettes received it earlier then others.

"It shall be at each captain's discretion as to when to fire, but remain within our point defense sphere. I shall be commanding the destroyer CSSC Shipwrecker myself. Missile engagements now!" The Marshal declared they frantically prepared for it.

Even as Rear Marshal, Ridley never had any actual combat experiance. Sure, there were the simulators, but what good did they do when the enemy was different, and the simulators weren't even fully accurate.

"These men are bright chaps. I'm a bright chap. I can do this," He muttered to himself, ensuring that all systems were a go before he ordered his ship.

"Fire a missile!" He declared, loud and proud as a missile slid out of its launch tube and drifted away slowly, off to the side as it drifted, before turning on its antimatter injection engines and fired off at an ever accelerating pace, reaching 0.1C rapidly. That meant that the missile, a kinetic kill vehicle design that had ablative armoring at the front and maneuvered wildly to ensure survivability until it could get close enough to detonate the rest of its fuel to force it to a mind shattering 0.15C, was a relevistic kill vehicle. Attempting to intercept it with CIWS would only result in a more deadly rain of shards that still had the same force as it did before being hit.

Two other missiles flew alongside it, all of the same design. They were loitering attack designs- they did not require a previous lock before firing, they would identify the target when it was clear. Potentially, three ships were about to be gutted.

All of this, from about two astronomical units away- only missiles stood a chance of hitting.

by **Mektavia** » Tue Aug 14, 2012 1:40 pm

As the Achilles sensors registered the incoming missiles, the captain, Calm and collected gave his orders with a stern air of authority. "PD Corvette's to the front with shield frigates behind them, wait until the missiles are close than open fire on them, bring shields up immediately after 2 volley's have been fired, Deploy space ionization mines, and drones to try and confuse those missiles".

Behind the captains calm and cold demeanor, he was a bit worried, these ships weapon range was far superior to the Mektavian fleets. They would have to rely on there point defense systems to keep them safe until they could get in effective range of the enemy fleet, but there fleet was much more massive than this tiny flotilla. "They won't pose a threat, So long as we can destroy them before they radio for reinforcements" He muttered

Everyone watched in anticipation as a line of 17 point defense frigates moved to the front, with shield frigates close behind them, going online ahead of schedule, The front of the shield frigates split open in 4 sections, creating a sort of cross with 4 antennae at the center of it, Slowly the shields began to charge

The image of a pale man in full combat uniform popped up over a video channel to the bridge of the Achilles.

"Ion Disposition now commencing, charge at 4%, estimate 2 Minutes 43 seconds until the shields can deploy".

The captain stood up and growled, his voice was low and harsh, like gravel under ones boots "you have 1 minute 30 seconds, make it happen."
"Aye-aye sir" The man aboard one of the shield frigates nodded hid head and saluted to the captain as the image winked out, going to overclock the generator system. Meanwhile the point defense systems on the Front line frigates were kicking into life, the 3 missiles would be in there range in a little under a minute, A tense feeling of dread washed over the entire fleet slowly.

by **Dolmhold** » Tue Aug 14, 2012 4:03 pm

Y192 IA 3:4:8:6:79:33
Destroyer Squadron Shanghai'd
Local Space X-5B1

The Marshal's worry was highlighted by his facial expressions and it was clear that all of his attention was focused on the incoming reports, awaiting hope for a successful kill, if not all of them successfully killed.

The dark and unfriendly hull of the destroyer was a mighty cylindrical shape, the standard for the spacecraft of the Committee for Collective Security, that was bristled with numerous turrents for point-defense, with the occasional turrent that wasn't for point defense. The external hull was devoid of any superstructure, all of it being hidden inside as the pimple-stick drifted across space. Ridley knew that it was not going to be enough to tackle the two-hundred strong enemy fleet.

What was interesting, however, were the reports the missiles were handing back. It appeared that the enemy had arranged their ships in lines, two dimensionally, leaving plenty of ability for the missile to simply go 'above' or 'below' the ships and outright avoid their defense systems. In fact, that was exactly what the missiles were doing, being barely a light second away from their ship now. Their targets were large ships, potentially classified as capital ships.

"With the current closing velocity between our squadron and their fleet, it is seven hours until pass-by. I think we should speed it up- more speed for the missiles and less time tangoing with their ships at one light-second. Leave that to the big boys," Besn reported, he himself equally immersed in understanding the data and preparing for the next move.

"Your logic is correct. Fire up the main engines, point three percent burn, velocity downward point zero one light, forward point zero five light." The Rear Marshal shouted. "And above all, twenty degree velocity change 'downward'. That can not be missed," he stated authoritatively.

'By the singularity, I hate that word. It isn't like there is a downwards or upwards in space,' He thought to himself.

"Aye, dodging the draft," Besn joked light heartedly as the five ships began to change their relative velocity 'downward' and sped faster, reducing the fly-by time to three hours, but similarly increasing the fly by distance from point blank to a few healthy light-seconds.

"The Committee has replied, one fleet will be able to arrive within sixteen hours. Until then, hang tight," A less masculine but still male voice vibrated across Inner Space, heralding the good news.
"Two other destroyer squadrons are also on their way, six hours and ten hours respectively."

"Good. We just need to avoid them and defend against their attacks for a while, keep them preoccupied. Missile round two?" The Rear Marshal asked across Inner Space, knowing what the reply would be.

"Yes Sir!" Came along with various other affirmative shouts, and once more missiles were deployed. This time, seven.

by **Mektavia** » Tue Aug 14, 2012 6:29 pm

"Sir, the first volley is arcing, Prepare the ganados grand, second wave of missiles incoming, 7 this time" The radar technician cried as he tapped his hand on the radar screen, counting the number of missiles "Sir, the Rain-7 system is operation and the enemy is in range, we can open f- " The commander cut him off "Than do it!!!". He stood up and walked along the bridge to the viewport, watching as the surrounding ships began there firing sequences, He watched as a curtain of 23 missiles launched, incound towards the enemy fleet. He was quick to note the difference in speed, the Rain-7 missiles were much slower, he hoped they would make up the difference in speed with sheer hitting power.

The Vanguard of the Mektavian fleet began moving ahead, speeding up to 76% impulse engines, as the weaponry readied itself "Sir, enemy ships are holding formation, the Rain-7 system is operation." The captain stood up, and waved his hand in a dismissive manner, this was the infamous Ricard "bloodletter" Sonny, the commander of the 14th independent fleet, which was suddenly attached to the 1st as a safeguard. He shook his head *Bring the Mist system online as well, we'll need the extra protection." He watched as the ships under his command opened there hatches, deploying a vast number of strange beacons. The beacons lit up like a celebratory fireworks show, letting off a dry mist, laser's and electronic waves, these were meant to confuse incoming missiles by interfering with there targeting systems.

In the rear of the fleet, the carriers were preparing there fighters and bombers for deployment, the Interceptors were already prepped and loaded on there catapults, but they wouldn't launch until they were within striking range of the enemy ships. "All craft are now standing by" The hanger overseer alerted the entire fleet, it was getting near time.

by **Dolmhold** » Tue Aug 14, 2012 8:16 pm

Y192 IA 3:4:8:6:83:59
Destroyer Squadron Shanghai'd
Local Space X-5B1

"Enemy return volley incoming, about an hour," a light, nearly cheerful voice propped up the curtain of chatter that made up the local Inner Space that connected the crew of the entire squadron together, the ships still over three hours away from crossing the enemy on their "Y" axis and their missiles far away, at least one hour before they'd get within range of the CIWS systems.

"Target identified-" The missile's logic process trailed off as the beacons came online, mildly messing up the infarred sensors of the missile. Of course, at the current insanely close range it was to the enemy ship, not even a third of a light second, coupled with the anti-tampering ability of the missile to immediately burn out the last of its reaction mass and antimatter in a near-explosion of speed, plasma and radiation, meant that the missiles have successfully boosted towards their final target. A capital ship, hopefully. Three of them may just go down.

Back at the little squadron, it was calculated that they would be sixty metric light-seconds away from the hostile fleet when they passed them on the "Y" axis. The whole squadron breathed a collective sigh of relief as they relished on the sheer gap between the two fleets as they would soon pass each other, while they tracked and extrapolated on the velocity of the inbound missiles. It would be another six hours before another Destroyer Squadron would arrive.

"All capacitors ready. Infarred CIWS be prepared to decimate incoming missiles. Plasma shields up when the missiles enter one-light second." The Marshal ordered as the laser turrents rotated and tracked the incoming missiles.

"So we are now impressing these missiles?" Besn joked once more, and an uproar of laughter cut through the usually calculative talk in Inner Space.

by **Mektavia** » Tue Aug 14, 2012 9:33 pm

"Sir, rain-7 missiles are entering phase 2, estimated 31 seconds to phase 3." The radar operator looked calmly at his console. In the void of space, it was much more tense, as the missiles moved closer at spectacularly high speeds, the boosters on them maintaining a steady speed. Aboard the Achilles, the commander was finally getting into the tension and anxiety, the fleet was about to go into battle. But why was everyone so tense, it was against such a tiny squadron that this should barely warrant a foot note in one of the radar operators autobiographies. But here it was, and it was do or die time, for the entire fleet.

The Frigates in the front were, of course the most tense and chaotic part of the fleet, with operators, technicians and security guards running to and fro, the sergeant of the "Into the Abyss" noted this, and was trying to calm his people.

"Please, remain strong and steadfast, we shall win the day! For Honor, for pride, for victory, FOR MEKTAVIA". With his words, a newfound strength surged through the ships crew, with men calmly, confidently moving from place to place. The Point Defense frigates in the front were finally about to see some action. Those missiles were coming closer, and it wouldn't be long before a bout of intense combat and battle broke this otherwise mind boggling boredom and silence that was cutting through the entire fleet.

The Antennae of the shield frigates began to glow with an odd blue aura as the shield finally erected itself, part of the famed "3 front" strategy. As the Point defense frigates took up there positions, with a single line of frigates in the middle, another line formed at the top of the barrier, and a third line at the bottom, this would make kills much easier to attain from the incoming missiles. "Sir, Enemy missiles with enter the Hard Rain kill zone any moments now!" The gun coordinator alerted the sergeant from his console

"So..." He said quietly "It's finally time"

by **Dolmhold** » Wed Aug 15, 2012 10:44 am

Y192 IA 3:4:8:8:11:42
Destroyer Squadron Shanghai'd
Local Space X-5B1

"One hour until Y axis pass, no signs of the enemy changing their vector. Four hours until destroyer squadron Honourbound arrives. After we pass then, should we joust once more or let them try and catch us?" Asked the captain of the CSSC Penetrator, cold, quiet but heard by all.

"Our goal is to buy time. Letting them catch us should be good enough. As for the enemy missiles, we're approaching them faster then I thought. CIWS ready?" Ridley asked, calmly although calm probably meant in denial. "On another note, Honourbound? Oh no... Not those arrogant pricks..." he Trailed off as he remembered the sheer volume of people they challenged to an honour duel, himself included.

"Nothin we can do about that. Now, the hostile missiles are ninety light-second away from us. Ready to impress these missiles?" Besn asked as the missiles drifted into the sphere of effective CIWS, the lasers wrecking missile after missile it seemed, but three invariably got to the point where they slammed against the plasma shield, the shield evaporating away some of its matter as the magnetic field strained in repelling the effects of the missile. "Plasma shield down fifteen percent!" Noted one of the crew members, possibly Besn. It was somewhat difficult to discern when an uproar of similar cries erupted everywhere.

"What about our missiles?" asked Rear Marshal Ridley, his head straining from the amount of thinking he was doing.

"The first three are unaccounted for, our volly of seven is nearing final boost stage." Replied Besn.

"Continue en route, but let's not waste any fuel. I think three destroyer squadrons should be able to put up a good fight wot?" Ridley asked cheerfully. "Let us be the press gang here."

by **Mektavia** » Wed Aug 15, 2012 12:08 pm

The gunners of the point defense frigates locked there guns into place, firing a volley of laser and plasma fire into space, as expected, one of the missiles detonated, than another, but the third missile got through, striking a maneuvering corvette, splitting it cleanly in half. The commander stood up and growled, giving his orders sternly, clearing agitated now "All ships, downward, half speed, intercept those enemy ships." He paced back and forth as the entire fleet dipped low, speeding to meet the enemy fleet, but most of the enemy ships were out of his fleets effective range.

The point defense frigates widened there lines, covering all possible points enemy missiles could launch from. As the second wave of 7 missiles neared, the radar technician called from his console "Sir, Corvette "Undying" was hit, it's going down, no signal!" The commander didn't have time to worry about that, the second wave of missiles was approaching fast "Those missiles will hit the top line, All gunners, to stations! Prepare for missile intercept!"

The line of frigates lined up, preparing the mist system for it's second deployment, the battleground commander gave the order, a field of beacons firing off lasers, infrared beams, electronic signals on every frequency, every counter measure the Mektavian military had to offer was packed into this probes "Missiles entering Mist system range now, reports indicate.... 4 of them are trailing, the other 3 are still on course!" The commander rose out of his seat, and shrieked his order like a demon out of the deepest pits of hell "Take it down".

the guns of the entire line of frigates lit up, streaks of plasma and energy jolted through the air, one of the missiles detonated as a plasma bolt struck it's target, but the other two got through the screen, one of them striking a destroyer, it slowed, and stopped, the second missile suddenly jerked off course, caught in the second Mist systems screen, and flew past a number of ships before colliding with one of the probes. "Sir, Mist 14 is offline, collision detected." The commander nodded his head "It did it's job". He returned to his seat as the fleet moved to intercept the enemy squadron.

by **Dolmhold** » Wed Aug 15, 2012 4:52 pm

Y192 IA 3:4:8:9:12:01
Destroyer Squadron Shanghai'd
Local Space X-5B1

"So... How much space is there between us and them?" Rear Marshal Ridley asked, curiously. He could access the data at his own will, but it appeared that they were in no hurry, and besides, striking up a conversation helped ease the mood.

"They have changed vectors, nine light-seconds away. Still too far for laser fire and kinetics. Too little, too late," A light voice replied to which Besn replied, "Guess we gave them the slip eh?"

The network erupted with laughter at the joke as the ships rotated to face their frontal section at the Mektavian fleet, the velocity unchanged as they streaked past each other at what had seemed to be closing velocity of the speed of light, at vastly different trajectories it was somewhat difficult to deduce instantly.

The squadron was now drifting at 0.05C in the opposite direction the enemy was drifting. If they wanted to catch up with them now, they had a lot of work on their hands.

A sudden realization just hit Ridley hard. "They could just ignore us..."

Alarmed at the prospect that they could just ignore them and set up a forward operating base, he began to think. "Would they chase us, or would they ignore us..."

Committee Broadband Meeting

"Hostile fleets have invaded our claimed space- not that much of our claimed space matters, of course, but that one system in the middle between all of our systems does," Manier stated, hoping to emulate some form of an air of authority in order to get some desired action.

"We have already sent an entire fleet and three destroyer squadrons, what else is there to send?" Questioned Elliza, her face frowning as she digested what they were supposed to do. "And so we should risk two hundred and fifty eight small craft? We've already ordered the fleet to travel at twice their cruising speed, they'd arrive in seven hours. Honourbound in one and Bloomers in three."

"They need reinforcement- just look at the state of what they're doing to delay time. They aren't even doing anything of significant value-" Manier was interupted as Elliza cut in.

"We took out two ships. For all we know, to them a fleet may be very, very important. They are doing something of value." She replied, agitated.

"Yes, and we'd be doing even more of value if we deployed the starfighters. It is just half-"

"Half!? You know how long it took to assemble and refine these spacecraft right, atom by atom. They are not to be wasted on such a small purpose!" Elliza once again cut Manier's replies in half as she maneuvered the course of the meeting with a blade of nails. "They can hold out, and the starfighters will not be needed."

"Do draft the starfighters here, this press gang ain't being kind to us and holding out like this isn't so much fun," Marshal Ridney replied, the lag between communications meaning that he meant to state it quite some time ago.

Needless to say, with his interesting vocabulary, the Committee burst up laughing.

"As per your request, granted I guess," Elliza finally agreed, knowing better then to deny someone on the front lines what he needs.

Two hundred fifty eight starfighters, half of the starfighters, were now being quick-deployed to the system.

by **Mektavia** » Wed Aug 15, 2012 7:25 pm

The commander sighed boredly in his seat as the ships moved onwards, the action had inexplicably died down, and the entire fleet was suddenly plunged in a strange chaos, a sort of anxiety. The Achilles rolled past chunks of one of the frigates that had been hit, A destroyer was pulling salvage duty, small automated drones the size of a car were melting chunks of metal and taking them, storing them for later reuse. The frigate fleet scattered as the destroyers broke there respective formations, and began escorting the moving cruisers and battleships.

"Sir, the 3rd Heavy fleet is responding to the Forgotten's automated distress beacon, and are warping to our location, but it'll be an easy 77 hours before they arrive." A soldier reported from his console to the commander, who let out a sigh as he shifted uncomfortably "Seriously? the 3rd? damn..." He suddenly stood up, shouting "All ships, full speed, catch up to those enemy ships, correct our heading and get those ships in firing range!!" He looked around, watching as the space outside shifted as the ships turned, facing the enemy ships, who weren't in specks in the distance yet "And prepare the Signum cannon for fire. "

The entire fleet had shifted, and was now moving at full speed, the larger ships had to divert energy draw from there shields to the engines to keep up with the smaller ships, wings of interceptors had also been deployed, swarms of fighters zipped and looped around the frontal ships.

by **Dolmhold** » Wed Aug 15, 2012 9:16 pm

Y192 IA 3:4:9:0:32:65
Destroyer Squadron Honourbound
Local Space X-5B1

It began as a wrinkle, a distortion in the background radiation that seemed insignificant. A flicker on the camera, if you will. A small crash in the translation codes, nothing special. Then light, not of the system but of another's, began to trickle in like a small gust of wind, barely notable against the general cosmic background, a meer computational issue. It was only when the turrent, the spearhead of the cylindrical pimple-stick came out, clogging the gentle glow of light as it exited the anomaly did it become clear that the anomaly was not an issue of sensory tools, but a wormhole, constructed to allow the transport of this vessel, a warship fit to absorb the attention of the foe and outwardly demanding honour from the foe.

More wrinkles, and then the four equally honourable corvettes emerged from the puncture in space-time, their turrents bristling with power as their velocity dictated that they were en route to meeting with this "Shanghai'd" Squadron.

Destroyer Squadron Shanghai'd

This is Destroyer Squadron Honourbound ready to assist you in your bout of honour. A treacherous gang of thugs, aren't they? They had quite the nerve, ganging up on your squadron in hopes of declaring it a victory, wot? We'll see to the correction of the playing field.

He composed in the manner typical of the Honourbound squadron, often utilizing quite a bit of nonsense in order to drive their point across. He himself wasn't quite sure of the enemy's intentions, but his sensors did indeed identify the enemy, slowing down their vector and soon to be springing back at the two squadrons. Other contacts also showed up. Two hundred and fifty six of them.

"Hey boys, ye here to join the party? Took you guys long enough, thought you were a no show," Dan's voice cracked though the formality of the Honourbound Squadron's communications as it attempted to batter down the doors of their castle of formality, which promptly elicted a prompt response by the Rear Marshal, a Granoam Eong.

"You have no right to communicate to us in that fashion, dishonourable cretin, an honour duel it is then when you crawl back to your cage!" He replied, relatively revolted by Dan's provokative response.

"Oh. Right. Honourbound crew. Well, I must warn you, I'm pretty skilled with my standard coilgun," Dan replied, realizing just who and what he was talking to. All he could hope was that the later duel be swift, and they they took this more pressing space duel more seriously.

"Calm down, what's important now is that we delay the arrival of the enemy fleet until they match our velocity and exceed it. What I'm saying now is that we'll have to drift," Rear Marshal Ridley communicated, reminding the Leroy Jenkins of what was important now and what was important later.

"Honour duel- you too," Was the response Ridley received from Granoam.

"Well boys, guess I'm shanghai'd into their game again," Ridley joked across his squadron, an uproar of laughter and confidence surging anew once more.

by **Mektavia** » Wed Aug 15, 2012 10:01 pm

The commander could see it, flashes of light in the distance, unsure of what it was, he gave a cautious order to reform the fleets ranks with corvette's and frigates to the front with destroyers laid atop each other's Y Axis, cruisers took the same formation behind them and battleships and carriers alternating the final line. The fleet was moving as fast as it could, hoping the catch the enemy ships soon, within a matter of minutes, the enemies rear guard appeared on sensors, and the commander knew the game was afoot at last.

The fighter wings sped up, screaming towards the enemy fleet "We'll slow them down so the fleet can catch up! Don't be late." The lead fighters moved fast towards the enemy ships, it would be about 2 minutes before the fight began. And as the fighter squadron did there final call, forming there formations as they rushed nearer to the enemy fleet.

by **Dolmhold** » Thu Aug 16, 2012 12:33 pm

Y192 IA 3:4:9:2:08:43
Destroyer Squadron Bloomers
Local Space X-5B1

It was a matter of time. Only a matter of time as the wrinkles appeared once more, this time apparently behind the enemy fleet. Two hours had passed as the Mektavian fleet drew closer and closer, their small craft already launched in the general vicinity of the original two squadrons. Indeed, it was a mighty wait as the delay allowed the last squadron that would be present in this system to appear from within the bowels, but father time had ways of being played to their advantage.

Times were tense as the enemy small craft cloud, presumably fighters or the like, moved quicker and ever closer to the Honourbound and Shanghai'd squadrons, systems automated to begin firing the moment they entered the approximate sphere of coverage that the CIWS systems gave. The fighters with the squadrons did not even pay attention to these new small craft- the fighters had a different target in mind.

"Engage warp, engines on, weapons ready. Prepare to attack the enemy fleet," Dan shouted across the local network of the starfighters, as they proceeded to assume 0.5C, largely aided by the warp drives as they cut through the enemy's small craft cloud, ignorant of any of their moves as they sped towards their target.

"Remember, as fighters our goal is not to wreck to enemy ship, but to operational-kill it," Dan drilled the fighters as they approached the enemy ships, 0.5C meaning that their infarred light was heavily blue-shifted, nearly to the point of visible light. The fighters were going to fire upon turrents, engines, anything that dictated functionality. Soon, those things would dictate unfunctionality.

"What are we waiting for? Fire the missiles," A feminine voice from the Bloomers Squadron commanded, as they released all of their missiles, all RKV models. Twenty four shipkiller missiles were now en route against the enemy fleet, and they had already locked on their target. At 0.5 light seconds, they would use their final boost, and smash into the ships they had chosen. Once again, they were going for larger ships.

The missiles were designed so that countermeasures would only result in the targeting of another ship close by or a premature boost that was still very likely to hit regardless.

The battle had begun.

by **Mektavia** » Thu Aug 16, 2012 1:11 pm

"Multiple missiles approaching from one direction, fighter craft moving towards us from another!" The radar monitor alerted the commander as the ships prepared for the coming battle, the point defense ships moved to one side, within a few moments those missiles would be in kill range. The destroyers moved to the front, firing a swarm of missiles towards the enemy fighter craft, the frigates also had started firing metallic slug rounds towards the missiles, the slightest impact causing them to detonate. flashes of light tearing through the missiles, as they came closer, the frigates began maneuvering, streams of laser fire detonating the missiles before they could hit anything. "W-we got 'em all? We got 'em all!"

The fighter squadron's had the same idea, firing a wave of missiles towards the enemy fleet as they drew closer. With that done, the fighter split there formation, preparing to hit the enemy fleet.

Back at the fleet, the carriers had started prepping the bombers for release, it would still be quiet a while before they could be deployed, but the sooner they were ready, the less they would have to worry about it when the time came for them to head out. The captain of the carrier Persephone was talking quietly to the commander of the battleship "Achilles"

"Sir, bomber wings alpha through Epsilon are ready to deploy, we're just waiting to be in effective striking range now. The enemy fleet is still moving away, yes?" The commander looked at his image, displayed over a holographic screen that covered half the view port "yes, there still fleeing, the main fleet is preparing to engage them, with point defense frigates taking care of the missiles, and destroyers dealing with the fighters. We'll keep the front moving up until we can catch up with those enemy ships". The captain of the Persephone shook his head "yes sir, and.... what about the X-02 Platform?" The commander rose one eye brow "We're holding that back for now, should the situation turn, we'll launch the X-02 and deal with the enemy that way, but not a moment sooner, no point using our trump card this early on. We're not even entirely sure of the enemies overall capabilities, at least not yet."

As the image winked out, the captain of the Persephone Nodded his head "The commander won't show it, but he's nervous, this enemy is playing cat and mouse, and it bothers him."

Vipers Venom (( FT, attention Dolmholdi ))

Vipers Venom (( FT, attention Dolmholdi ))

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