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JediBear | Sat Aug-02-08 09:40 AM |
Member since Aug 02nd 2008
42 posts
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"The Devil and the Deep Black Sea"
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Clan Ghost Bear Warship Great Bear
Soverzene Zenith Jump Point
Severzene System
15 May 3067
Overnight, Star Commodore Senan Hawkins had gone from the largely unimportant command of a large transport vessel to the commander of the most powerful warship in the Ghost Bear Fleet. It was his greatest fantasy, and it was an unimaginable nightmare.
It was the fulfillment of a life-long wish in that he now commanded so vital and powerful an asset at the age of twenty-eight. The subtle nightmare, however, was that the nature of his command had not changed.
Rather, the nature of the Fleet had changed. Seven days ago, the fleet's senior officers had met a Nova Cat sneak attack in the Alshain system. The attack had been crushed, but the simple fact was that none of the surviving Ghost Bear vessels would be ready for action for a number of months.
The Nightlord-Class Battleship Cameron had been harried by the lighter Nova Cat ships' fire and gutted by their final salvo. Of the surviving vessels, her reapirs would take the longest. The flagship, the Cameron-class Battlecruiser Dieron's Run, had taken heavy damage to both broadsides in the course of its duel with the last two Nova Cat warships. Bear's Den, a powerful Black Lion-class Battlecruiser would be the simplest to repair. What damage she had sustained was from the firefights in her hallways and the breaching charges on her hull -- it was largely superficial, but her crew had been literally decimated, and not enough remained to jump the magnificent vessel, let alone fight her. The captured Nova Cat Congress would need significant repairs and also did not have a crew.
And not all of the vessels had survived. Five Destroyers -- the Essex Class White Fang and White Claw, the Lola-class Blizzard and Ice Pick, and the powerful York-Class Ursa Minor had each been rendered into so much cosmic debris. The Fredasa-class Corvette Black Ghost and her decorated Captain, the Rising Star of the Ghost Bear fleet, had also died.
The other two Leviathan-class vessels -- the Leviathan herself and the Rasalhague-- were still in yard-hands, the Leviathan undergoing a refit to the Battleship specifications to which the Rasalhague was being built.
Replacement crews for the damaged vessels were being raised from the expectant crew of the Rasalhague and the sidelined crew of the Leviathan or the few survivors of the Naval Battle, as well as being drawn from transports and dropships elsewhere in the fleet, but right now his command-- the Leviathan-class Warship Great Bear-- was the most powerful operational warship in the Fleet, and she was still little more than a glorified transport.
As soon as he had heard the news, he had recalled his crew from leave and begun burning for the Zenith point, expecting that whatever measures were to be taken would likely involve his ship, and he had been right -- even now a messenger was on the way from High Command with orders to be delivered in person.
But the worst news had come today. Clan Wolf had struck each of the remaining worlds of the Free Rasalhague Republic beginning on May 1, the day the Truce of Tukayyid had expired. The so-called Star League's reserve force was pinned down by a warship blockade on Tukayyid, and thanks to the Nova Cats, there was nothing the Ghost Bears could do about it.
Perhaps the Nova Cats would have tried to lift the blockade themselves; and they had the power to, at least in theory; but their bizarre and insane behavior had its consequences. Somehow, the Nova Cats would have to be punished.
And the messenger had just arrived to tell him how it was to be done.
"The messenger" turned out to be no less a personage than saKhan Aletha Kabrinski, saKhan of Clan Ghost Bear. Senan tried not to gape as the airlock cycled open and he recognized her. His instructions had not been specific on who would be arriving with his instructions, but never in his wildest dreams had he imagined it would be the supreme commander of the entire Ghost Bear Touman.
"Permission to come aboard, Star Commodore?" she asked, observing the ancient naval tradition. Frankly, he was surprised she was aware of it, much less that she would observe it. The ways of spacers were strange to Mechwarriors like Aletha Kabrinski, and poorly regarded in Clan Society generally, to say nothing of Clan Ghost Bear's ground-warfare centered Touman.
"Granted, my Khan" he managed without stumbling over his own tongue "I am -- surprised to see you. Will you also be assuming command?"
The saKhan shook her head "Of ground forces only. This is your ship, and I am a mere Mechwarior. In truth, I am mostly here to demonstrate the importance of this mission to the Khan and the Warrior Council."
"This mission," He asked, curiosity overcoming him "What is it exactly?"
Aletha's face contorted with barely restrained rage "Our interrogation of the Nova Cat survivors revealed a startling fact about their attack -- it was no Trial of Possession at all, despite their batchall. Their intent was to "punish" us by attacking us where we are weakest."
Those in attendance reacted with shock -- that anyone, even an Abjured Nova Cat, would trample on Clan traditions in this way was as surprising as it was offensive. Aletha continued, "This only shows how far they have fallen. The Clan way, as you know, is to attack the enemy where he is strongest, or wherever he may be found."
At this point, her expression changed to a feral grin "It is our turn to teach the Nova Cats a lesson. We are going to strike at the Nova Cats to take or destroy what they hold dearest, their precious Warships."
It was an ambitious plan, but ultimately practicible. In all the great Nova Cat Navy, only one ship could hope to both outrun and outfight Great Bear. That vessel, a Black Lion Battlecruiser once named Thunderbolt, but now styled SLS Sevren Leroux, would be the first target of their attack. Their objective would be to board and capture her, leaving a prize crew aboard to return her to the Trelleborg naval station in the periphery.
That single goal accomplished, Great Bear was to continue its assault on Nova Cat shipping, capturing as many vessels as possible until its resources were exhausted or it was forced to withdraw. Under no ciorcumstances was the Great Bear to engage in a battle which might result in its destruction.
To this end, Great Bear had been assigned eight Titan-class Dropships, ships which had served as temporary stations for flight-crews anticipating to join Rasalhague's compliment when that vessel came on-line. With these dropships came two hundred forty Omnifighters, while another fifty flew from Great Bear's own bays. In order to board and capture such vessels as might be encountered, Zeta Galaxy's First Claw Cluster had been assigned, along with survivors from Cameron's marine compliment, bringing the vessel's compliment to seven-hundred twenty five battle-armored marines, each a combat veteran and each extensively trained in boarding and counter-boarding tactics. The additional personnel would be accomodated in Great Bear's passenger berths, and their armor stored in its cargo bays. Similarly, these berths would accomodate an additional hundred naval warriors and five hundred rated personnel, who would form prize crews for captured vessels.
The preparations were completed within the week. Her Kearny-Fuchida Drive and Lithium-Fusion Battery fully charged and ready, the mighty ship made its first jump into enemy territory.
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JediBear | Sat Aug-02-08 09:44 AM |
Member since Aug 02nd 2008
42 posts
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#1. "RE: The Devil and the Deep Black Sea"
In response to Reply # 0
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Clan Ghost Bear Warship Great Bear
Proximity Point Zulu-11
Irece System, Irece Prefecture, Draconis Combine
22 May, 3067
It had all begun well enough. Arriving in-system, Senan had deployed three Titans to assault and capture the Thunderbolt, while Great Bear remained behind outside the hyper limit, ready to withdraw if things got bad. It was only now that he noticed his mistake.
"Disengage charging systems. Full Thrust ahead. Relay to all Dropships: scramble all fighters. Scramble our fighters as well."
"What is going on, Commodore?" the saKhan had quickly caught on to the shipboard tradition of disregarding the first part of an officer's rank while in combat.
"A moment, my Khan."
Senan Hawkins tried to maintain an outward calm, but inwardly, he was panicking. He was a jumped-up Transport Captain, not a Star Admiral! The most important mission of his career and he had already bungled it. Moments before, his sensor officer had announced the arrival of a thermal footprint -- only seven thousand meters from his own command.
These Nova Cats are insane! The maneuver they were performing was attributed to an SLDF officer. Senan didn't know her full name, but she'd given her first name to it -- Crazy Jane. Of course, even Crazy Jane hadn't tried jumping into combat range from another star system. There had not, after all, been any jump-capable Nova Cat craft in the system, sensor scans and intelligence both confirmed that.
It took three minutes for the infrared signature to resolve into the Aegis-class Warship Chronicle. The first three seconds were spent in detecting the signature and relaying commands. The next fifteen seconds were needed to engage Great Bear's drive system. In the remaining 162 seconds, Great Bear's velocity changed by 2.43 kilometers per second, and achieved a separation from the Heavy Cruiser of some 203 kilometers.
"Emergence Wave! Footprint!"
Another footprint. Dead ahead. The Cats had known exactly what he would do, experienced veterans toying with an amateur.
"Bear starboard ninety degrees. Starboard batteries may fire as they bear. All fighter craft are weapons free. My Khan, we are about to be very heavily engaged."
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JediBear | Sat Aug-02-08 09:45 AM |
Member since Aug 02nd 2008
42 posts
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#2. "RE: The Devil and the Deep Black Sea"
In response to Reply # 1
Sat Aug-02-08 10:16 AM by JediBear
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Star League Heavy Cruiser SLS Chronicle
Proximity Point Zulu-11
Irece System, Irece Prefecture, Draconis Combine
22 May, 3067
The Ghost Bear was out of his mind! Though SLS Chronicle's crew had manned battlestations before the double-jump that brought them to the outskirts of the Irece System, one thing that was not anticipated was that the Ghost Bear transport captain would try to make a fight of it against two Heavy Cruisers. Despite his hopeless position, his first salvo had struck Chronicle even as she emerged from hyperspace, ravaging her from bow to stern with fire before the crew, including Star Admiral Jakob Bavros, had had time to recover from the brief disorientation.
"Fire! All Batteries Fire! Get me a damage report!"
A horrible thought flashed through the Star Admiral's mind. Maybe intelligence had underestimated these large transports.
No fighting force can maintain 100% combat readiness at all times, and Senan Hawkins' crew, no exception to the rule, had been caught with their figurative trousers pulled down around their ankles. Indeed, more than a third of his crew were still scrambling for battle-stations when the Chronicle emerged from hyper-space. Fortunately, Clan Ghost Bear has the greatest respect for the oldest traditions, and the tradition of maintaining a combat-ready watch aboard ship was older than even space travel. This made it a very revered tradition indeed, and Ghost Bear crews habitually maintained such a watch with one-third of a ship's available staff on station at all times. Another third would be on "recreation watch," while the remainder would be on "bunk watch." All were, of course, to be at their stations in less than three minutes.
Unfortunately, noone had expected the crews to go to battlestations under combat acceleration, and as well-drilled as Great Bear's crew were, they were not having an easy time of it.
Fortunately, each of the six Ghost Bear ships at proximity point Zulu-11 had maintained a "ready star" of fighters, available to launch at a moment's notice. In the case of the slowest ship, the Titan-Class Dropship Jack Frost, these fighters finished their launch precisely two minutes and thirty-seven seconds after the Chronicle's heat signature was detected aboard the Great Bear.
Chronicle and her consorts had gone to battle-stations before making their second jump into the Irece system. This meant that her attached Carrier-class JumpShip was able to complete the launch of her full Star of fighters only three minutes after the Ghost Bears finished theirs. Chronicle's own fighters launched far more slowly, owing to a crippled launch door and a fouled flight deck, both results of the Great Bear's preemptive salvo.
Therefore, when the Ghost Bear fighters arrived to strike at the Chronicle, they would meet only ten fighters, eight from the carrier dropship, and two from the Chronicle herself.
The hangar-bay shook as the Chronicle's heavy autocannons struck back at the Great Bear. The impact reverberated through the great ship's hull, sounding for all the world like the very hammer of the gods, though faster and harder than perhaps a god might have wielded it. Among this racket, Star Captain Angelo DelVillar scrambled to load his Elementals into a pair of Mark VII Landing Craft. He had managed to round up about fifty of his men, and even a Star Commander, and had got them suited up and organized into ad hoc stars before loading them into the craft. He was the last one in to the second shuttle, as he would be the first one out.
Launching less than a minute after the first fighter Star from the Great Bear, the Mark VIIs burned hard to catch up. Angelo's vision blurred under 3Gs of acceleration, though his Elemental Power Armor made the work of keeping his position child's play. Looking at the aft monitor, he got a glimpse of the scarring along Great Bear's starboard broadside before it faded and pixelated with the increasing distance. Didn't even penetrate the hull, he noted. For all that it was little more than a glorified transport, Great Bear had the armor of a Battleship.
The Mark VII is a short-range aerodynamic craft designed to effect landings on a planet from a close orbit. A military craft, it is identical in most ways to a large aerospace fighter, with its low thrust and massive cargo bay being its only particular distinctions. As such, while it is easily identified by visual inspection, none of the instruments aboard the Nova Cat ships were able to distinguish the two landing craft from the sixty fighters now bearing down on them.
Scattered fire from the Nova Cat Dropships made little impression on the fighters as they closed into optimum weapons range, and the Nova Cat fighters held themselves back for when the Ghost Bears were fully engaged. Another broadside salvo from the Great Bear erupted across the Chronicle's armor, prompting the Heavy Cruiser to roll over on the thrust from its one good thruster assembly.
Then the range closed down, and the dying began. Presented with four dropships and a star of fighters, the Ghost Bears allocated their fire very logically -- a Star each to the dropships, and the two remaining Stars to the fighters. All died within the first two minutes, even as the Chronicle began to flail at the Ghost Bear fighters with its capital weaponry.
Then the Principle arrived.
The second Cruiser arrived directly abaft of the Great Bear, broadside on. In seconds, her guns were already tracking, and Senan Hawkins had just enough time to utter a single ancient blasphemy: "Great Kerensky, for what we are about to recieve..."
Fire erupted across the back of the heavy transport, seeking out thruster ports and tearing at armor with murderous accuracy, guns tracking on the Great Bear's thermal plume. A thought long submerged by basic panic fought its way to the front of Senan's mind: If I stay here, I am going to die. Worse than die, he would be dishonored. This was exactly the decisive engagement he had been instructed to avoid. But Great Bear didn't have enough velocity or enough time to escape the Cruisers' engagement envelopes. Newtonian physics simply wouldn't allow it.
Newtonian Physics. That gave him a glimmer of hope, for Newton had been proven wrong a long time ago, along with Albert Einstein, by two men named Kearny and Fuchida. It was their work which allowed the KF Hyperdrive at the heart of his vessel to function. And he still had one charge. Frantically he checked to make sure his drive was outside the occlusion range of the other two ships drives. He knew his pre-plotted coordinates were off due to his ship's movement, but there was no time for the ten minutes required for a proper computation.
"Helm, engage the jump drive."
"But sir...!"
But Senan was already across the bridge, knocking the man from his console. In the next few seconds, he did the one thing every jump navigator since TAS Pathfinder had been trained never to do.
Space seemed almost to twist around the titanic vessel, and suddenly Great Bear was no longer present in the Irece system.
Coming in behind the first wave of fighters, the Mark VII landing craft lined up with Chronicle's one good landing tube even as Great Bear vanished. Angelo DelVillar calmly noted the disappearence of the large craft, but pushed it to the back of his mind, keeping his head clear for the coming assault. A Nova Cat fighter burst from the launch tube, dying in a brief exchange of fire with the two small craft. Something, perhaps one of Chronicle's wildly flailing autocannon batteries, caught the second Mark VII, obliterating it in a brief flash of fire in the void, close enough to accelerate Angelo's craft into the landing tube, a far faster approach than would have been recommended. The pilot almost kept it together, but in the end, the Mark VII crashed into the deck, shearing off its landing claws and twisting its frame even before it hit the Visigoth waiting for launch clearance with largely undiminished force, smashing both craft, and leaving only the armored Elementals alive and able to get free.
Nova Cat crash teams rushed to clear the wreck, looking slightly comical in the light gravity of the flight deck. The Ghost Bears, struggling free of their smashed shuttle, let them do their work. Clan Warriors did not target civillian Technicians. Instead, they went after the Warriors, shattering the fragile-looking Pilots with gyroslug rounds even as the quick-witted pilots took cover behind their armored craft and returned fire with their sidearms. In moments, the fighter bay was subdued, and Angelo informed the Technicians of their isorla status, and commanded them to cease operations.
Only then did it sink in -- Great Bear was gone.
He turned to a lower-ranked Elemental "Figure out who's in charge out there. Whoever it is, I need to talk to him."
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JediBear | Sun Aug-03-08 05:48 AM |
Member since Aug 02nd 2008
42 posts
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#5. "RE: The Devil and the Deep Black Sea"
In response to Reply # 2
Sun Aug-03-08 05:50 AM by JediBear
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Santin West, Khan of the Nova Cats, was dead. And he knew it. It was strange. Every single other time he had gone into battle -- whether on land, in the air, on or under water; even in space, where he was now -- he had been confident, eager. This time was different. The three IR contacts approaching off SLS Sevren Leroux's bow filled him with a sense of dread he had never known. It was odd, he reflected, how such tiny things could carry such dreadful potential.
For each of those contacts was identified and confirmed as a Ghost Bear Titan-Class Carrier dropship, each with a full load of thirty aerospace fighters, giving the Ghost Bears ninety of the tiny, potent short-range craft. SLS Sevren Leroux and her full escort carried only a third that number between them, and the massive Battlecruiser's weapons could not track effectively against such small craft. His Novastar Keshik and the Flagship's crew were among the elite of the Nova Cats' elite, but the numbers permitted no possibility of victory, and as the three contacts suddenly split into twenty-one as the first wave launched, Santin West was glad for the reflective visor of his Elemental Armor -- it hid the look of terror that he could not keep from his hardened warrior face.
The first wave was made up of volunteers. Flying older, second-line fighters like the Issus and Hydaspes, it was their job to draw fire, to engage enemy fighters and dropships so that the all-important second-wave could deliver its vital packages. The Third Wave was there to close the deal. Thirty fighters made up each wave, and as they closed with Thunderbolt and her battle-group, they flew through the silent roar of the vessel's first broadside. A futile gesture, it was not totally ineffective. A fighter here or there was unlucky enough to be caught by the massive autocannons, and the broadside missile tubes were not devoid of impact. Still, no less than twenty-six fighters came through that first broadside to savage their targets. A Noruff Dropship was torn apart, and a Clan Union and Sassanid followed. A Carrier-class vessel lasted not much longer.
And then the Nova Cat fighters pounced, and the battle was joined in earnest. The whirling melee seemed to last forever, and then the second wave reached their objective.
Pilot King's Visigoth felt oddly sluggish as he aligned it for its "bombing run" against Thunderbolt. The unusual configuration was not much heavier than the basic loadout for the fast omnifighter, but it was bulky, cumbersome. Weapons needed only armored pods. Elementals needed room to move, to breathe. The large pod underslug on the Visigoth's fuselage, carried five battle-armored Elemental marines, and the six half-stars of the Second Wave carried two hundred fifty Elementals in total -- a full Binary, which should prove more than a match for Thunderbolt's defenders, if all could be delivered to the target.
To this end, the pod was equipped with a magnetic grapple line. Slaved to the Visigoth's weapon systems, it would attach to Thunderbolt's hull and gently reel the Elemental Boarding Pod in. In theory.
Of course, first Pilot King and his comrades had to hit the target. Not the Thunderbolt, so much. Despite the danger of her multiple heavy autocannon turrets and her considerable maneuverability, she was actually a very large target. No, the difficulty would be delivering the EBP with a similar enough velocity that it would be able to reel in. The Visigoth's infinitely versatile computer system had been configured to indicate when this occurred, and the second King heard the "lock on" tone in his earpiece, he fired the tow cable and released the Elementals.
Wishing his Clansmen luck, he powered up his wing-mounted missile pods and laser cannons and broke toward the fighter melee.
The Nova Cats were not so easily diverted by the First Wave that they did not grasp the importance of the Second Wave. Despite the overwhelming (if thinning) numbers still arrayed against them, they plunged into the Second Wave, inflicting heavy casualties before being torn apart by the heavy fighters of the Third Wave. When the last Nova Cat engine went silent against the void, seventeen craft remained from the Ghost Bear First Wave, twenty-five craft from the Second Wave, and twenty-eight from the Third -- and one hundred eighty seven Ghost Bear Elementals had boarded Thunderbolt.
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JediBear | Sun Aug-03-08 06:02 AM |
Member since Aug 02nd 2008
42 posts
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#7. "RE: The Devil and the Deep Black Sea"
In response to Reply # 5
Sun Aug-03-08 06:05 AM by JediBear
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Angelo shot the first Elemental to poke his head over the pile of bodies at the entry to the docking bay. His people had made no progress, but they had succeeded in holding the docking bay -- so far. It was only going to get worse, though. It would be several minutes before the Ghost Bear dropship could organize another landing. For the moment, they had pulled their fighters back to refit, and Angelo and his people would just have to hold out until help arrived. And hope help didn't arrive for the Nova Cats first.
The Laser bolt smashed through the other Elemental's already weakened faceplate, turning his head into a fine, scorched mist that spewed forth from the shattered port, imparting a slight spin to the body as it tumbled briefly in zero-G before the Aegis began to thrust again, smashing the corpse to the deck.
It was a common tactic for ships being boarded. They had control of the thrusters, and they could do anything they wanted with them, so they engaged in start-and-stop and wild maneuvers to try to shake up the boarders. Angelo's people were professionals, though. Marines, dammit. Such childish tricks would not work on them. Especially not from a ship that could not seem to pull more than a single standard gravity of thrust.
A group of Nova Cat Marines leaped over the makeshift barricade, led by three in Battle armor. These Angelo and his people laid into with heavy weapons even as they turned their secondary guns on vacsuited Marines. The Nova Cats fell, but so did two of Angelo's own people. A stray SRM round shattered the armor on Angelo's hip. He wondered just how bad it was as the suit meds washed the pain away, made him numb and simultaneously infused him with fighting spirit. He braced himself for the next wave.
We can not take much more of this.
Senan Hawkins drifted in the warm black of space, looking into Aletha Kabrinski's dead eyes as her corpse spoke to him. All around him drifted the remains of his ship, his crew. All dead. All failed. All futile.
"You are a failure, Senan Hawkins" the corpse said, and he knew it was true. His mission had failed. His crew was dead. His ship, destroyed. And it was all his fault. "I should never have chosen you. The wrong ship. The wrong captain. The wrong crew. The wrong mission. Even now, the Jade Falcons have the Com Guards pinned down on Tukayyid, and here you are tying down the only force in the Galaxy that could stop them."
But wait. If I am dead, how can I be tying them down? I am dead, am I not?
He contemplated this, spinning in the warm blackness amidst the wreckage of the great ship, as the alarms grew louder and louder and...
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JediBear | Thu Aug-07-08 03:46 AM |
Member since Aug 02nd 2008
42 posts
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#10. "RE: The Devil and the Deep Black Sea"
In response to Reply # 7
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...Great Bear crashed out of hyperspace with a noise like a mountain falling out of the sky. It was not a real sound, but rather a suggestion of a memory left in the minds of the crew by the titanic forces that had hurled the massive vessel ten light-years from its previous position, into the void between stars. The radiation that burst from the vessel's entry into the system was real enough, but there was noone else in the void to observe it. Star Commodore Senan Hawkins' plunge to the deck-plating was far louder, in actual fact -- a sound-wave propagating through the island of atmosphere that was the great ship's bridge.
It was not a consequence of gravity, of which there was no measureable force, but rather of one of his old nemesis Newton's more commonplace laws. An object (one Senan Hawkins) had been set in motion, and the first thing on-hand to arrest him had been the steel deck-plating of the Ghost Bear warship.
Consequently, the first thing Senan would remember after the jump was waking up in the bridge-deck med-station with a loud ringing in his ears.
"The ship...out of danger?" he managed.
the saKhan was near at hand to answer his query.
"Reports from the bridge are that we made a largely uneventful, if entirely unorthodox, jump. To use an Inner Sphere colloquialism, I understand you 'saved our bacon'. Now that you are awake, you still have a ship to run."
A medtech handed him a cottonball to stuff into a still-bleeding nostril as he made his way out of the room and through the adjoining corridor to the bridge, his saKhan trailing behind him amusedly.
"All Stations, Report!" he barked out to a bridge that was still regaining its composure. The terrified helmsman had lost his lunch, and had been replced by a stand-in while he recovered 'belowdecks.' Ominous-looking red and amber lights burned on several consoles that had always shone green -- no doubt reporting the system failures which had triggered the alarms -- which were still working.
He listened to the litany of damage the vessel had suffered, both from the short battle and the subsequent jump. All fairly minor. With any luck, it could all be repaired with onboard spares. The most critical systems could be shored up in hours. The biggest problem was...
...that he was stranded in interstellar space without a KF Drive charge.
"Have engineering check out the drive and charging mechanism. We will want to get those systems cleared before we start running power through them."
Aletha Kabrinski nodded eruditely, her modest knowledge of space-travel failing her as to the import of these orders, or what the Star Commodore intended to do next.
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JediBear | Thu Aug-07-08 03:47 AM |
Member since Aug 02nd 2008
42 posts
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#11. "RE: The Devil and the Deep Black Sea"
In response to Reply # 10
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There was good news and there was bad news, Angelo DelVillar reflected. The bad news was that his ad-hoc Elemental Star was down to three "effectives," with a half-dozen "walking wounded" -- counting himself -- comprising the bulk of his force. They could move and fight, but medically speaking they should not be. Another point could not walk, but could still fight, and helped to stiffen the defense at the door. A full point had bought it in the shuttle crash, while six more had been killed through enemy action. The fighter-bay aside, they had not gained a single centimeter of ground aboard ship. Ammunition was low: all of the Elementals had long ago emptied and discarded their SRM Launchers, and the last count had less than sixty rounds for the anti-personnel gyroslug carbines the suits carried as secondary armament.
The good news was that they had given at least as well as they had recieved. The better part of a Star of unarmored marines, two points of battle-armored marines, and another fifty spacer-warriors lay dead or wounded beyond the fighter bay entry port. He had no idea how many were left, but it was either good news or very, very bad news that no new assault had been launched in the last fifteen minutes.
If it was good news, the Nova Cats had decided that they could not force the bay, and when his reinforcements arrived, he would be able to take the ship with ease. If it was bad news, the Nova Cats were rethinking their approach to conquering the bay and had reinforcements of their own on the way.
Angelo supervised as his isorla deck teams made the fighter bay ready to recover craft. Star Captain Jarvis Bekker, the senior officer in the hastily organized Titan Star outside assured him than another Star of Elementals was on their way in minutes.
I only have to hold them long enough.
Angelo suddenly had an idea, and he called one of the other walking-wounded over to take over the deck-clearing operation.
He called the bridge, in the clear.
"This is Star Captain Angelo DelVillar calling the commanding officer of the Nova Cat Warship Chronicle. I have boarded your vessel and have fought off every attempt to repulse me. That makes me the victor in this action, and I call upon you to surrender this vessel to Clan Ghost Bear before I am forced to destroy you."
After all, they didn't know how bad off he was. It might buy him a few minutes. There was no way they would actually surrender.
"I am Star Admiral Jakob Bavros, commander of SLS Chronicle. If you want this ship, Ghost Bear, you will have to pry it from my cold, dead fingers. Besides, I know something you do not know."
A ringing reverberated throughout Chronicle's hull -- the sound of something, something very large if Angelo wasn't wrong -- docking, and not being terribly careful about it.
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JediBear | Sun Aug-10-08 03:40 PM |
Member since Aug 02nd 2008
42 posts
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#12. "RE: The Devil and the Deep Black Sea"
In response to Reply # 11
Sun Aug-10-08 03:41 PM by JediBear
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Proximity Point Zulu-11
Irece System, Irece Prefecture, Draconis Combine
22 May, 3067
"This is Bear Angels Flight Alpha calling the Nova Cat Commander. We are transporting reinforcements for a Trial-in-Progess and we are requesting safe conduct to the field of battle. Please reply."
The three mixed Stars -- thirty aerospace fighters, some Omnifighters, some aerospace fighters of the type that had predated the introduction of the highly-configurable frontline craft -- hung in space just outside the reach of the two Nova Cat cruisers sitting close together at the edge of the Irece system, waiting for acknowledgement of their safe-conduct request.
They didn't need safe conduct. Despite the tremendous firepower of the two Aegis-Class Heavy Cruisers, there was little they could do to arrest the progress of the nimble snub-fighters as they made their approach to the contested docking bay. Even so, it was always best to ask.
Star Captain Gaebril of bloodhouse Snuka was comiing to the end of his considerable patience. "Five more minutes, and then we go in hot. We've been more than polite enough."
There were mutters of agreement over the tac-net. Finally, the inbound line from one of the Nova Cat Cruisers -- Chronicle, if the intel section had identified her correctly.
"We will not grant you passage, Ghost Bear. Enter this area at your own peril."
Gaebril was just irritated enough that he fired a verbal shot back at the Nova Cats. "Your call, kitty. It's your funeral." closing down the line to the Nova Cats, he spoke over the tac-net. "Okay, boys and girls. By the numbers. One."
The first Star surged forward, led by Gaebril's own fighter, a Clan-tech upgrade reproduction of a Stuka that had been acquired from the Diamond Sharks at only a small markup. Nova Cat fire reached out to meet them, but even the highly-precise barracuda missiles scored only one hit for four missiles as the small craft sprinted across the edges of the Cruisers' weapon range. That single hit did little more than singe the paint on a Star League vintage Rapier flown by one of Gaebrils' Star-mates. Deprived of any likelihood of a direct-hit, the big missiles used bursting charges to increase their ability to do something. In large clusters, they could be devastating, but in singletons, they rarely mattered.
"Two." The second Star, entirely comprised of Visigoth Omnifighters, surged forward, quickly closing down the gap with the first wave's heavy fighters, which still distracted the Cruisers' heavy guns. The hope was that the quick fighters, half of which carried a point of battle-armored Elementals each, would be lost in the intricate evasive patterns of the other fighters, and because they would be harder to hit, they would draw proportionally less fire.
"Three" launched the last group, a mixed Star of light fighters, all carrying the latest in Clan-developed ECM units. Configured as "Squealers," the third Star triggered their ECM units as they punched across the invisible line defining the Cruisers' maximum range, each giving off the electronic equivalent of a "Kick Me" sign and (hopefully) drowning the other fighters with noise just as the combined unit crossed over the NACs' maximum range at a velocity of nearly sixty-six thousand meters per second.
Despite the evasive maneuvers, despite the ECM, a few NAC shots still connected with the odd fighter as the Ghost Bears flipped over and began their decel burns. The light fighters bore the brunt of it, Two Avars and a Vandal being joined by a retrofitted Swift in star-bright demise as their fusion engines lost containment. Two Visigoths were lost. By sheer luck, neither of them were fitted with a troop load. Gaebril's wingman, a Kirghiz, also "bought the farm" as the fighters slowed to nearly nothing relative to the two Cruisers and darted along the hull-surface of the one.
It wasn't until then that Gaebril noticed several strange things at once. First, the two massive vessels were docked together. Second, both had their fighter bays open. Third, there were a number of tiny forms crawling along Chronicle's hull, toward the docking bay. He punched up a magnification automatically, but already knew what they were.
Elementals. Principle's shipboard marines were being deployed to reinforce the sieged Cruiser, meaning...
"All Fighters, Get between those Cruisers. Alpha, hit the Elementals on the outside. Beta, drop on Principle. Repeat. Abort scheduled drop and unload on Principle. Gamma Star, hit that docking ring as hard as you can. Do it now."
But his people were already on it. Even as he ducked into the small seperation between the two Warships and caressed Chronicle's hull with his Pulse Lasers, his Star-Mates followed, vaporizing hull-metals and powered-armor alike, and knocking the remaining troopers sprawling. One Nova Cat managed to hold on after his strafing Salvo, only to be caught by a follow-on strike from the remaining Rapier.
Light weapons fire lanced out from the third fighter group, missing plenty, but also holing the fragile boarding tube and welding the two behemoths together.
Four Visigoths cruised in on a perfect approach angle for Principle's docking bay, "dropping" their Elemental Boarding Pods on an inertial course that carried them through the open doors just before frantic crews slammed them shut.
A fifth Visigoth apparently became confused, and launched his EBPs toward the friendly-held fighter bay on Chronicle, their original target.
Oh well. Twenty Elementals could take an undefended ship, and Angelo would surely need the help. Speaking of help. There was one more thing he could do.
"Good job boys and girls. Star Captain Angelo DelVillar, this is Bear Angels Flight Alpha, requesting permission to recover aboard Chronicle."
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JediBear | Sun Aug-10-08 03:42 PM |
Member since Aug 02nd 2008
42 posts
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#13. "RE: The Devil and the Deep Black Sea"
In response to Reply # 12
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Star League (contested) Battlecruiser SLS Severen Leroux (Thunderbolt)
Inbound to Irece
Irece System, Irece Prefecture, Draconis Combine
22 May, 3067
Ship's Senior Technician David wrinkled his nose as he entered the smoke-filled compartment where the Khan of the Nova Cats, in full battle regalia, enjoyed what he presumed to be his last cigar. It was one of the good Canopian ones. Cost a fortune to import. David had heard rumors that the Santin West spent more Kerenskies on his cigars than on ammo for his battlesuit.
Disgusting, wasteful habit. If the Homeworld Clans had a point about the Nova Cats becoming corrupt, Santin West was the proof of it.
"My Khan, I have set the charges as you requested."
Santin West pulled the cigar out of his mouth with his suit's left-arm battle-claw, handling it delicately before crushing it out against the compartment wall.
"Blow them."
"But sir--" There were still men in those compartments. He would need time to get them out, but the Khan interrupted.
"BLOW THE CHARGES, TECHNICIAN! NOW!"
What could he do? On the field of battle a Khan's orders must be obeyed.
The mighty ship shivered. An even dozen men David had been unable to evacuate died.
SLS Severen Leroux lost power to all decks as its crew's deliberate sabotage gutted both its main transit drive and its auxillary power systems.
Santin West had somehow remained standing, though David found himself on the ground. The forward panel on his suit swung closed as he exited the compartment. Over the externals, David heard one last order from the Khan of the Nova Cats.
"Lock and load, warriors. It's time to go hunting Bear."
"Pipsqueak on Deck!" one of the new Elementals called, and Angelo snapped to attention and offered a parody of salute to a Warrior who effectively outranked him by virtue of not being infantry.
"Decided to condescend to join the Marines, quiaff?" he offered as the other approach. "I'll ask you what I asked the other guy, since it was your order. Where in Kerensky's name are the rest of my reinforcements?"
Gaebril waved to the five fresh elementals and the dismounted pilots suiting up for shipboard combat. "We are all you get for now. We got some mudbugs on the hull, looked to be about Principle's full Elemental compliment. I sent the rest of the Star I was carrying to secure Principle, so all that is left is for us to secure Chronical."
Angelo looked at the pilot aghast. "And just who the ****** are you to decide where my mudbugs go? I am thankful for the air support and you deciding to get your hands dirty in here and all, but had it ever occurred to you that there might be more Elementals in these ships than you were seeing? Do you know how big one of these things is?" Angelo spit, and brought his mini-tirade to a close with a quiet "Suit up, and follow my orders or I will shoot you myself."
The cursed Pilot seemed to have been right. Angelo and his people had encountered no armored troops on the way to the Bridge, and the few unarmored crew had been unable to stand up to the fresh Point in the vanguard. Gaebril's pilots had served adequately as flank guards, and they had made good time considering the walking wounded status of half the Elementals he had brought along.
One thing he had learned from numerous boarding and counter-boarding operations was that the bridge door was always an ambush, and almost always fatal for the first trooper through.
"Volunteers to enter first?" he asked, and there was no shortage. One of Gaebril's pilots even volunteered before one of the Elementals pointed out what was likely to be waiting on the other side. It came down to two of the older Elementals. Each over fifty, either would have been Solahma in another Clan, and both likely sought their glorious death in battle.
They started bidding away weapons, and one quickly dived below the cutdown, surrendering his laser, battle-claw, and visor targeting unit.
One of the new guys undogged the hatch, and the "winner" shot through the hatch on a short burst of jump-jet thrust. The first several shots actually missed as the warrior twisted to return fire on his assailants, and then the next volley caught him, inevitably penetrating his armor in places at such short range. Angelo had no doubt that the warrior was dead as other Elementals followed quickly, falling on the armed crewmen inside. Angelo was fourth in, and found the situation already quite pacified. He spotted a man with a Star Admiral's insignia on his uniform, and shot him clean through the chest with his 3cm laser cannon.
"Your wish is granted. Now, who will surrender this ship to me?"
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JediBear | Tue Aug-12-08 01:24 PM |
Member since Aug 02nd 2008
42 posts
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#14. "RE: The Devil and the Deep Black Sea"
In response to Reply # 13
Tue Aug-12-08 01:25 PM by JediBear
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Clan Ghost Bear Transport Warship Great Bear
Zenith Jump Point,
Irece System, Irece Prefecture, Draconis Combine
23 May, 3067
"Jump Complete. Coordinates Confirmed."
Star Commodore Senan Hawkins looked anxiously at the holotank plot as it formed, gaining in range and detail as active sensor emissions returned and his ship's jump wave dissipated. To his surprise, he saw only very few hostile IFF markers. The two Aegis-Class Cruisers that had forced his abrupt departure now flashed Ghost Bear transponder signals, while there was no sign whatsoever of Thunderbolt. Each of the Titan-Class Dropships he had brought into the system were accounted for, whether seperately (as the ships dispatched after Thunderbolt were) or docked with one of the two Aegis Cruisers.
Three groups of hostile indicators stood out to Senan's practiced eye. The largest were grouped around the planet itself. Though it was impossible to gain any sensor resolution at this range, the planet itself was marked hostile due to its known political orientation. A number of airbases and spaceports were presumptively marked hostile as well, and intermittent signals from ships further in-system were tentatively identified as non-friendly IFF transponders. A second group would appear at the Nadir jump-point, but the intervention of both considerable distance and Irece's primary made that data even more speculative than data regarding Irece itself.
The group of most immediate concern was the Zenith jump-point station and the fighter craft now scrambling from that station.
"Commander Aerospace Group, you may launch your fighters when ready. Comms, get me the Zenith Station commander. Let him know just how much I would regret blowing his pretty station out of space."
Star League (contested) Battlecruiser SLS Severen Leroux (Thunderbolt)
Inbound to Irece
Irece System, Irece Prefecture, Draconis Combine
22 May, 3067
They fought in the dark. After the engines blew, there was nothing left to power Thunderbolt's main lights, and noone had turned the emergency lights on, if even they functioned. Elemental suit thermal sensors showed the color slowly bleeding out of the now-drifting hulk as Ghost Bears and Nova Cats relied on instrument-detection to find and identify their foes.
A Nova Cat strike team or teams seemingly appeared from nowhere to assassinate each of the higher-level officers in the Clusters assaulting the ship, only to vanish down yet another darkened corridor. Whereas teamwork had carried the battle for the Ghost Bear Black Lion during the Battle of Alshain, it briefly seemed like superior intuition might carry the battle for Thunderbolt.
Star Captain Josiah Snuka found himself suddenly in command of the whole action, and equally suddenly duelling with a Nova Cat Elemental that had appeared from nowhere, while his own point-mates had been drawn off by another portion of the Nova Cat strike force. The Nova Cat suit, illuminated only by Josiah's suit lights, showed signs of scoring and melting from at least a dozen hits, and Harjel was visible through some of the cracks. Even so, the suit still functioned, and it moved with an uncanny grace as it bounded down the corridor in a kind of weird zero-G dance.
This guy's good, he admitted to himself, even as he reported to the ComNet that he was engaging the enemy and would be unavailable for a time, probably better than me. Under ordinary circumstances, that admission might have worried him, but his own suit was blessedly undamaged, except for the laser blast that had announced the other's presence, and he even still had a round for his shoulder-mounted Short-Range Missile launcher.
Both Warriors fired at the same time. Josiah's SRMs blasted out a piece of the corridor wall as they narrowly missed the Nova Cat (and sent him flying, new leaks springing in his increasingly HarJel-composed suit,) but his opponent's laser blast caught him square in the chest even as his own flew wide.
And now he was worried, but it mixed with disbelief. He can't be that much better than me, can he? But he could, and the wildly dodging suit landed another laser blast on Josiah's suit, this one carving through the optics on his main laser.
From a position of clear advantage, Josiah had been reduced to secondary weapons only without landing a single meaningful hit on his opponent. He grudgingly gave the elemental he faced a mental salute even as he triggered his jumpjets for what he thought might be his final maneuver.
But his jump-jet driven charge took the other by surprise. Jump-Jets were of little utility in shipboard combat, providing far too much thrust for the closed-in environment, and posing a serious risk of damage to the ship. Few would have even considered such a maneuver, which was the only reason it worked.
The two suits locked together, punching a hole through three lightly-built interior walls before coming to rest. Josiah's foe must have been tired, for Josiah recovered first, gaining a grip on one of his opponent's arms with his battle-claw and pulling with all his myomer-enhanced strength. The arm came off with a noise of tortured metal, as the HarJel pumps in the suit fought to keep up with the new damage. The maneuver deprived the Nova Cat of his battle-claw, but sent Josiah flying, briefly out of control as he smashed through another interior wall. A laser shot followed from his opponent, giving the suit a further push as the flash-vaporizing metal exploded away from the suit.
Josiah turned around, hoping to catch his opponent following him through the wall, but saw no sign of the Nova Cat. Now where are you?
But, he remembered, he was supposed to be running this show. "Boarding party, this is Actual. I am disengaged. Request Sitrep by Star or Point."
And the reports flowed in as he stilled his breathing, forcing calm into a mind that expected an attack at any moment. Even as he began moving again to distance himself from the site of the ambush.
In general the Ghost Bears were encountering minimal resistance. Only a few points had been lost, and most of the expected Nova Cat warriors had been accounted for. Switching over to his point-wide 'Net, he requested a status report -- and got no response. This is not good.. He called for the rest of his Star to back him up, noting that they would arrive in seconds.
He moved through a hatch to the next deck up, and came face-to-face with the same battle-armor troop, easily identified by the HarJel coating over his left arm. His opponent was as surprised as he, but in these close quarters, the Battle Claw finally gave Josiah the advantage. Gripping his opponent's laser-barrel and engaging his suit's magnetic clamps, he heaved, forcing the other into a hardened bulkhead, which he could not punch through. The exposed arm snapped, HarJel and all, doubtless prompting his opponent's Medipack to administer another dose of "war-juice" to keep him in the fight.
Myomer actuators, equally and perfectly strong, fought for the control of the Nova Cat's one good arm, with the leverage ultimately favoring Josiah. He tightened his grip util the battle-claw, capable of rending 'Mech-grade armor, collapsed the comparitively delicate structure.
"You are beaten! Do you yield?" Josiah shouted triumphantly through the suit's external speakers.
"Never. You will have to kill me!" Wait. That voice...
"I recognize you, Santin West. I say again: you are beaten, and I claim you as my Bondsman. I will not kill you, but you shall not escape me."
Pinned as he was to the deck, the once-Khan of the Nova Cats admitted defeat, but remained certain that this was the day he would die.
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JediBear | Tue Aug-12-08 01:25 PM |
Member since Aug 02nd 2008
42 posts
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#15. "RE: The Devil and the Deep Black Sea"
In response to Reply # 14
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Ghost Bear Heavy Cruiser Chronicle
Proximity Point Zulu-11
Irece System, Irece Prefecture, Draconis Combine
22 May, 3067
Angelo DelVillar sipped iced tea out of a zero-G mug on the bridge of his hard-earned prize. Despite his impressive bulk, he made a pathetic sight, too large for even the ancient, oversized captain's chair, and with one leg immobilized to facilitate the healing of his broken hip. It was unconventional for an Elemental to be placed in command of a Warship, especially when the medtechs had not yet cleared him for duty, but Angelo had insisted, and the naval and aerospace Star Captains and their subordinates had each been unwilling to take him on in the arm-wrestling match that had been his chosen form for a Trial of Posession.
The pilot, Gaebril-- that arrogant ass, had been put in charge of the more intact Aegis Cruiser, Principle, while both completed repairs and charged their Kearny-Fuchida hyperdrives. The "orphaned" Ghost Bear warriors knew well that the Nova Cat Navy would have further response to their success, and only hoped to charge the drives and jump out-system before further aid arrived -- the Heavy Cruisers were crewed by skeleton prize crews, enough to keep watch on their isorla lower-caste crews and to go down fighting, but hardly enough to operate at peak efficiency. Worse, any new Nova Cat arrivals would likely be more cautious than the first group.
Consequently, the fusion engines of both ships had been run up to "hot-load" their lithium-fusion batteries, charging them in less than the minimum safe time listed in their technical manuals -- those batteries could be used to instantly charge the hyperdrives themselves, but would not damage the hyperdrives if the charging process failed, a probable enough result. Even so, it would take three days to complete the charging.
A lot could happen in three days. In the meantime, Angelo DelVillar enjoyed his iced tea while his broken hip, and his broken ship, slowly healed.
Clan Ghost Bear Battlecruiser Thunderbolt
Inbound to Irece
Irece System, Irece Prefecture, Draconis Combine
22 May, 3067
The battle for Thunderbolt was won, what was left of her. The Warriors of the NovaStar Keshik had fought hard, but the capture of their Khan had taken the fight out of them. Less than ten percent of the unit's elementals had survived to be taken bondsmen, as all of the survivors ultimately were. The Keshik's Aerospace pilots had fared somewhat better, ejection systems sufficing where armor had failed to keep them alive. Power had been restored to the Warship's small craft bay using portable generators, and her small craft were being used to recover the lost pilots of each side.
More surprising to some would have been the number of surviving Mechwarriors. After all, SLS Sevren Leroux had had no berths for Mechwarriors, and the land-bound combatants were little use in actions aboard-ship. A foresightful Khan Santin West had ordered nonessential personnel (this meaning Mechwarriors) to escape pods before the battle was joined, meaning that the worst the Mechwarriors had suffered was the humiliation of being unable to defend their Khan or his ship.
None of the Mechwarriors were taken bondsman. Instead, they were informed that they were now guests (meaning prisoners) aboard the Ghost Bear Warship Thunderbolt and would be returned to their Clan at such time as it was convenient. There were two reasons for this. Firstly, it was not the Mechwarriors' fault they had been captured without a fight. This was not their kind of battle, and they had been ordered into the pods. Secondly, as a consequence of this action, none of them had had an opportunity to demonstrate the outstanding prowess that would mark them as likely bondsmen.
All of this had been done and decided before the naval prize crew could even be sent aboard, and as the Titan-class Dropship Cyclops docked to deliver that crew an ad-hoc unit of Elementals stood at attention to recieve them. The first man through the hatch was the senior officer of the boarding team, a Star Captain (Naval) by his insignia. He asked for permission to come aboard, recieved it, and, stepping over the line into the bay, addressed himself to his ground-force counterpart.
"If there are no objections, I will be taking command of this vessel at this time." None of the Elementals moved. "At ease, then. I have never been aboard a Black Lion before, and this one seems in somewhat poor repair. If you could perhaps detail some of your men to escort the salvage party and to show me to the bridge, I would greatly appreciate it."
Bridge Section
Clan Ghost Bear Battelcruiser Thunderbolt
Inbound to Irece
Irece System, Irece Prefecture, Draconis Combine
22 May 3067
The Navicomputer started screaming shrilly as it spluttered to life under auxillary power. actually a portable Fusion Recharger unit bolted down to the deck next to it. At first, Technician Send thought that it was reporting an error, some kind of battle damage. Then he realised that the computer was functioning perfectly. He called his immediate superior to consult.
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JediBear | Wed Aug-20-08 05:53 PM |
Member since Aug 02nd 2008
42 posts
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#16. "RE: The Devil and the Deep Black Sea"
In response to Reply # 15
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Bridge Section
Clan Ghost Bear Battelcruiser Thunderbolt
Inbound to IX-357R
Irece System, Irece Prefecture, Draconis Combine
22 May 3067
"COLLISION IMMINENT" was the navicomp's objection, and further delving turned up the exact nature of the expected collision. Just before blowing the ship's engines, Santin West had subtly altered its course to ensure that it would be aimed squarely at a small asteroid, one of many that served Irece in place of a moon. Captured after the last Star League survey, IX-357R had been absent from the Ghost Bears' Star League-era databases, and West had had it removed from Thunderbolt's own systems.
He had, however, missed the backups. The navicomp had lost power during the struggle for control of Thunderbolt, and had automatically restored from backups when power was restored. This was the only reason the Ghost Bears knew that they had less than twelve hours to alter Thunderbolt's course.
And no engines.
Clan Ghost Bear Dropship Cyclops
Inbound to IX-357R
Irece System, Irece Prefecture, Draconis Combine
22 May 3067
"Clearly, we have no choice but to abandon the vessel. Why has this not yet been done?"
Star Captain (Naval) Ambrose looked calmly at the Elemental and delivered his response in a measured tone. "We have not yet determined that Thunderbolt is unsalvageable."
"It has no engines! No maneuvering drives! Do you want my men and I to push it?!"
"More importantly, Star Commander, she is the objective of our mission. If Thunderbolt is not salvaged, we will have failed. It will be a black mark on all of our codices. I do not think you want that to happen. So until I have determined that the vessel cannot be salvaged, we will remain aboard. Now are there any useful suggestions?"
Star Captain (Naval) Brena of Independence raised her hand. Two years older in her grade than Ambrose was in his, she had been placed under his command only because she was a freebirth, and a former member of the Technician Caste. "A Titan-Class Dropship generates six hundred meganewtons of thrust at maximum engine power. We have three such vessels, for a total of one-point-eight meganewtons. This is sufficient to accelerate the combined mass of a three-Titan-and-one-Black-Lion system at two-point-one-zero-five meters per second, assuming a maximum rated load for all four vessels. At this rate it will require only about three minutes to clear IX-357R."
Star Captain (Naval) Nowell of Hermia objected just as Brena had finished speaking. "Titans are not designed for towing! The kind of stress that would place on them..."
"...can easily be withstood by their frames for three minutes." Brena interrupted "The main difficulty will be finding enough cabling of sufficient tensile strength to secure our vessels to the hulk during acceleration."
"Very well, Brena." Ambrose commanded "You will take charge of the project. Make Thunderbolt ready for towing. Warriors, that concludes this meeting. Return to your stations."
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JediBear | Wed Aug-20-08 06:16 PM |
Member since Aug 02nd 2008
42 posts
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#17. "RE: The Devil and the Deep Black Sea"
In response to Reply # 16
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The cabling had had to be manufactured, as neither the Titans nor Thunderbolt had carried any such device among standard shipboard supplies. Fortunately, there was a material on-hand that was suitable for the job.
While not ideal for such applications, jump-sail fabric has an incredible tensile strength.
It took several hours to organize the effort and then secure the dropships to the hull. By the time the engines fired, it took considerably longer than the estimated three minutes to clear the moon. The few minutes of thrust were almost anticlimactic after so much preparation. Likewise, detaching and packing the improvised cabling took less than an hour.
Clan Ghost Bear Dropship Cyclops
Outbound from Irece
Irece System, Irece Prefecture, Draconis Combine
22 May 3067
Another meeting had been convened even as the shipboard day was coming to a close. In the tradition of men and women in unfortunate circumstances, it was basically a combination briefing/debriefing. The debriefing primarily concerned the successful maneuvering of Thunderbolt.
"Congratulations are in order, Star Captain Brena. I shall be certain to commend your efforts to the Commodore and the Khan." Ambrose concluded the "debriefing" portion of the meeting before moving on to the next part. Brena was quietly thrilled. Clan Ghost Bear was more egalitarian than most, but societal prejudice meant that the commendation of a trueborn superior was something of a rarity for a freebirth -- and a thing of great value. To the rest of the room, her cat-got-canary expression seemed merely smug.
"Now, to further business. Sensors aboard this vessel have detected a cluster of small craft moving out-system, escorting at least one Dropship. Independent readings aboard Independence and Hermia have confirmed their presence and course. It is fairly clear that they mean to intercept us. At this distance, it is impossible to determine their exact nature, but the Dropship is believed, based on its tonnage, to be a Mule class. My best estimates of likely composition of the hostile forces will have been uploaded to your datapads. If you will consult them, you will see..."
out of the frying pan, as they still said in the Inner Sphere, into the fire.
Clan Ghost Bear Transport Warship Great Bear
Zenith Jump Point,
Irece System, Irece Prefecture, Draconis Combine
23 May, 3067
Great Bear's sail drank in the energy provided by the recharge station's microwave beam, accelerating the drive-charging process far more safely than if the great ship were using its own fusion drives for the purpose. It was for this purpose that recharging stations had originally been seeded across the Inner Sphere, and while few remained, they remained an invalulable asset for commerce, or for military operations.
The station had ultimately surrendered without a fight. Being under a Warship's guns had been too great a threat for its commander's valor to overcome. Ultimately, Senan did not suppose he could blame the woman. He would likely have done the same. It was precisely the reaction he had expected, after all, but he did not expect the Nova Cat Warrrior Council to see matters in precisely the same way. Briefly, again, he toyed with the notion of taking the station's commander as a bondsman to save her that career-ending censure, but it was impossible to justify -- there had been no battle.
He was broken from his reverie by the sudden announcement of the Technician manning the comm station. "Signal from Cyclops, sir. They have Thunderbolt in hand, but they report that they have a problem."
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Jawbreaker6 | Sat Aug-02-08 11:57 PM |
Charter member
1679 posts
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#3. "RE: The Devil and the Deep Black Sea"
In response to Reply # 0
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A lot of good stuff, Jedi. Not knowing if this is intended to be a short story or a teaser of a full length novel, my feedback may be helpful or not.
For a short story, you do well at not bogging the reader down with details he has no need of. Keeping the story hitting hard, fast and continuously seems to be the short story mantra. If its going to turn into a full length piece, you should give the reader more. More mood, more sensations to acquaint him or her with the world they've stepped in. I want to know what the characters look and sound like and if the situation needs it: what they smell like. But it should be done in a way that doesn't read like a police sketch. You know: White male, 170 pounds, brown hair, brown eyes wearing jeans and a blue T-shirt.
The only story thing I can see that popped me out was the anxiety and unsureness of the Ghost Bear captain. Seems to me that a guy who had the foresight to mobilize his crew before the word came down would be boning up on his battle tactics at a minimum. In my mind, the Clans are like cannibals: waiting for you to show weakness so they can eat you and take your place. I think that he'd be studying and totally ready (technically) to assume command of any fighting ship or command role. But that's my take on the Clans; everybody has a different view.
Anyway, its great stuff and I enjoyed it a lot. Don't keep us waiting for more.
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Jawbreaker6 | Sun Aug-03-08 06:00 AM |
Charter member
1679 posts
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#6. "RE: The Devil and the Deep Black Sea"
In response to Reply # 4
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I won't split hairs with what your character's inner feelings are--those are your babies. We're all frail in some way, telling the reader about them makes the char more believable and helps us feel happy for them when they conquer their demons.
What I am saying is Clan mentality specific. Imagine a Spartan, trained for warfare his whole life being made into a spear carrier or some other combat support role. He'd do his job because that is what he trained his entire life for, but he's still a killer at heart. That is what I meant about this guy. Trueborn clanner, trained in a sibko from birth. He's a killer. Sure he may have some doubts about some aspects of what he's doing, but he's a killer at heart. If he's not you should tell us why he isn't.
Sensatory (sp) stuff makes the story deeper. When we watch TV we get to see the sewer, hear the heavy drops of filth plopping into the slime and see the faces of the characters. Readers count on us to do that with our words. The scene with the khan could go something like this:
The door leading from the khan's shuttle started cycling, the hatch dogs grinding slowly to their open position. Captain Jorgenson (Can't remember his name--sorry) sniffed the air and hoped the combination of fresh paint and sulfur wouldn't offend her. It was a smell all spacers were accustomed to, but had a tendency to put the un-itiated off their lunch. His worries disappeared the instant the khan appeared. She kicked off the edge of her shuttle's hatch and flew at him like a bullet, her long red hair trailing like a fire trail. The fire in her emerald eyes was worse.
By feeding a few details from some rough outline you have stuffed in a drawer, you can give us one or two details at a time but not bore the crap out of us with a police sketch. Give them big hands, wormy eyebrows that slither or fingers that are long, skinny and always tapping in time to a song. By doing it slowly you will let us know what they look like and keep the reader feeling connected to them and the piece.
Long winded, I'm sorry, but I'm passionate about writing and Bt especially.
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