Story of my game with Greg - enjoy
Uncharted System, Spinward of the Centauri Republic
The Octurion Resplendent cruised forward effortlessly on its gravitic engines, the rays of the distant sun glancing of its huge purple and gold surface. On its left flank the tiny Maximus escort frigate was forced to burn fuel to keep up with its vast charge.
Lumbering after the Centauri battleship came a second grand vessel, its catamaran like design providing launch bay from which a swarm of crescent shaped fighters were emerging. Prowling restlessly on the far right flank was the sleek dangerous shape of the Crimson Claw, a Demos class raider.
The Republic did not currently claim the system they had entered but with the recent defeat of the Narn, the Royal Navy was being far more proactive in patrolling the border and once forgotten outposts and territory.
A previous patrol had gone missing in the system, and command suspected that perhaps remnants of the Narn fleet were using it as a refuge, something that could not be tolerated.
……………….
Unbeknown to Lord Kalvor, commanding the small fleet, his arrival in system had already been noted and examined. A small blocky craft, cloaked in advanced electronic countermeasures was monitoring its movements from a safe distance until a suitable response was decided upon.
Hidden deep within the systems primary asteroid belt was a secret facility almost unique and tasked with producing a whole new type of vessel for its masters.
One of these creations had returned from a mission and was maintaining station, lurking in local hyperspace, its advanced technology and ancient heritage making this an effortless task.
…………………………….
Lord Kalvor was bored having spent a full day wandering through the apparently deserted system looking for thrice damned Narn. He yawned and was contemplated ordering a return to Centauri space when the sensor operator broke into his thoughts.
“My Lord we are detecting unknown ship approaching our position, moving through the nebula.”
“At last, they emerge from hiding! Durus, bring the ship to battle readiness and announce an extra round of Bravarii to the gunnery crew that first scores a hit on the Narn.”
“Tavoris, alert the fleet, Prepare to engage – tell them to fire as achieve a lock, order the fighters to advance and attack – I don’t want them to become targets for their damned emines.”
The command deck grinned, the Lord was generous with his best Bravarii when his crew pleased him.
The Centauri behemoth engaged its primary engines and began to accelerate slowly, fighters streaking past its bulk and moving ahead to deal with the primitive Narn craft.
………………..
Approaching through the Nebula, the targets of the advancing craft were less happy to see their opponents, although thanks to the scout, Echo were fully conversant with the enemy vessels and their capabilities.
“Another bunch of fan heads, I had hoped we had seen the last of those bloated idiots.” Captain Summers had remarked on seeing the report from the Echo, but after a day of watching and waiting it seemed the Centauri had no plans to leave the system anytime soon.
The Mater was one of the most important ships in the Psi Corp arsenal and was not designed for battle. The facility hidden behind it was even more vital, producing awesome weapons that could be turned against the mundanes, when the inevitable war began.
Ahead of the Mothership were small dark craft, almost hidden in the void, their engine flares preventing total concealment. Some distance from the dusky star furies were a smaller group of pure black craft, their lines distorted by organic growths that were difficult to fully perceive.
Near the Mater was a converted transport, its cargo pods altered to provide basic launch and recovery capabilities, which had brought most of the Black Omegas to the battle. Like the command ship she was lightly armed and even more lightly armoured, relying on its limited electronic warfare systems and interceptor batteries to provide protection.
The offensive power of the fleet rested with two sleek hunters – one lurking in hyperspace – the other moving to flank the unsuspecting Centauri warships using the desolate rockball as cover
…………………..
“Duras, what do we have then, how many ships can the Narn muster to face us?”
“Er…yes, hmm, Well My Lord, I am having trouble identifying the vessels, they seem to be disrupting our sensors….”
“What?” Kalvor leaned forward in his grand throne for a moment, before easing his bulk out to look at the sensor readings………he had fought enough skirmishes in his nearly forgotten youth to know that stealth was not part of the Narn arsenal.
He peered over his subordinate’s shoulder, his considerable weight transferred through one hand on the shoulder.
“That’s no Narn ship………………” he looked up at the main view screen, trying to see what the sensors could not.
“Hura, bring us to maximum attack speed, get us in range of that vessel, whatever it is. Durus, send the Claw to flank the enemy and make sure we have no surprises near that forsaken moon.”
………………
Summers stood up in surprise as several km of Centauri battleship began to accelerate towards his increasingly vulnerable command ship. Previous encounters with Centauri captains had been very one sided – they had been nervous and incompetent. Whatever the flaws of this new opponent, nervousness was not one of them.
“Comms, order the Kali to attack, “he turned to the dark haired woman behind his chair and nodded, “its time to show our hand”
She grimaced and carefully reached out with her mind to the thing that waited in hyperspace, forcing her mind to approach its wrongness and give the commander the order to begin his attack run,
……………
“My Lord, a jump point forming behind us…….perhaps we should………….”
“NO, Ignore it, our target is ahead, divert squadrons one through five to break and engage whatever comes through.”
“The Crimson Claw reports a unknown contact by the planet, closing fast, unable to obtain a target lock. She is accelerating to combat speed.”
“Good, Good, Crisaris scents blood…………” The Lords feral grin vanished as the whole ship lurched as it suffered an impact.
“Great maker, what hit us – damage report
“Unknown, some kind of beam weapon, extremely powerful, luckily it was only a glancing blow.”
Moving quickly through the jump point, a strangely configured organic ship had raced straight into the attack, brushing off the fire from the small swarm of Centauri fighters who had quickly downed the few fighters that had accompanied it into real space. It had lashed out with a purple beam of energy, just catching the vast ship ahead of it, but only for a moment and whilst its power was able to match its ancestors, the accuracy was lacking.
Ahead of the Octurion, the energetic razik and sentri fighters leapt forwards to engage the small cloud of enemy fighters that were closing on their flagship. Fully confident in their capabilities of their own craft and receiving real time updates from the comprehensive flight control centre on the Balvarin class fleet carrier Triumphant Destiny, they swept into a flurry of weaving dogfights.
……………..
“Guns, engage the Centauri battleship”
A coherent energy beam lanced out from the Mater and lashed at the Replendant, but its thick centuries old armour proved as effective as when it had been crafted and most of the energy dissipated harmlessly.
…………..
“There………. I see you……. My friend, prepare to feel my wrath, Hura, get me some more speed, I need to get closer.”
“Crimson Claw reports heavy damage but is continuing to engage”
“The Destiny has a lock on the enemy, firing now”
……………..
The Kali was one of the most advanced vessels in the known galaxy, its sable form the product of reverse engineering the technology of the First Ones. It only mounted one weapon, but the power of the molecular slicing beam had served the Shadows for untold ages. Its crew were both well trained and experienced in the ways of battle and it was cloaked with sophisticated jamming systems.
It was fortunate that the gunners of the Triumphant Destiny were blissfully aware of how outclassed they were as they achieved a brief target lock and unleashed the full power of their ion and matter cannons. A storm of fire enveloped the Kali, flaying layers of organic material and causing a series of explosions across the ship.
From a unsurpassed hunter, the Kali was transformed into a drifting target, it’s deadly beam system unable to fire. Luckily for its crew, it had also inherited the ability to repair and regenerate and painfully slowly its damaged systems began to knit together and reenergize.
………………….
The Mater was far too slow and lumbering to do anything more than sit helplessly as the massive bulk of the Resplendent approached.
“Captain, Centauri warship approaching to optimum range, our jamming systems are having no effect.”
“All hands, brace for impact, this is going to be rough…………”
The battle laser stuck first, slicing across the hull of the command ship, ignoring the light armour but inflicting little damage. This was just precursor to the primary weapons of the Octurion, numerous batteries of Ion and Matter Cannons, which were quick to light up the void between the two ships.
The vaunted interceptor system immediately went into action to blunt the attack, struggling to repel the sheer volume of fire that was being flung at it. Quickly, the defence system was overpowered and enemy fire broke through, hammering into the delicate hull, smashing weapons, killing crew and causing a primary reactor to shut down due to damage.
The bridge of the Mater was no less badly hit, several crew were flung to the deck by secondary explosions and systems blew out. Yet she was still there, her weapons remained on line and capable of striking back.
The heavy laser bored into the Resplendent, vaporising a whole heavy turret mount and burning through a primary targeting matrix.
…………………
“My Lord, significant damage to enemy vessel, gun crew four request confirmation of their Bravrii.”
Lord Kalvor laughed, “Yes, Yes, now lets finish them………Durus have we got a lock on the other ships, the one Destiny just blooded?”“
No my Lord, some kind of cloaking field protects, attempting to compensate.”
“My Lord, Centauriata Mirvor reports all enemy fighters destroyed, but only a few of our own remain, they are returning to the destiny to rearm”.
“Ahhh it is a good day to be a Centauri, now.……Great Maker!”
The whole vast ship lurched to one side as a cutting beam sliced across the armoured surface, shattering a gravitic propulsion wing and causing secondary explosions throughout the ship. Triangulating the beam back to its source, the rear batteries of the Octurion returned fire, causing minor damage to the Hunter but doing nothing to deflect it from its course as it closed on the rear of the Resplendent.
………………….
Captain Lao smiled as he watched his sister ship drift helplessly, he had always considered himself the star of the new programme and he was about to prove it. He imagined the cursing that would be spouting from his fellow commander’s lips and his smile widened.
“Mr Simmons, continue firing until that peacocks barge is removed from my screen.”
“Aye Sir, weapon charged……………firing now.”
Again the purple beam carved its way into the Centauri battleship, ignoring the armour to tar through completely to the opposite hull. Return fire from the Resplendent chased sensor ghosts and missed the Nike which continued to slice and dice its way through the enemy flagship.
Aboard the Kali, repair crews and the ship itself continued to try and bring primary systems back on line, not helped by occasional speculative shots from the Destiny as the shimmering form of the dark craft drifted lazily across the bows of the carrier.
Exaltus Toross surveyed the command bridge of the Triumphant Destiny, even larger and more ornate than his Admirals, all was right with the universe, his Astus Centari has swept the void free from the enemy craft and as yet his great ship was untouched. The same could not be said for the Resplendent, with huge burning scars and increasing trail of debris – ahh the perils of command he mused, what a shame……
“Maximari, our weapons are having trouble destroying that…craft, launch the Larisi and have the Legionaries take it as a prize. Tell Mirvor to suppress any defences. ”
…………………….
A flight of assault shuttles burned from the right hand launch bay and in a rapidly shifting attack pattern flew at the Kali, several flights of sentris drawing fire from its point defence batteries. Two shuttles crumpled under the concentrated fire of the guns, but the other four made it though and their crews began burning through the strange material of the black hull. Sirens wailed on the Kali as the battered hull was breached and the sound of weapons fire began to reverberate through its corridors.
“Engines are responding, Weapon is back on line”, the young lieutenant wiped the blood from his face as he reported the good news.
“Seal the doors, bring us into range of the battleship, Mr Olson”, Captain Uresh carefully moved her broken leg and injected herself with a stimms/painkiller cocktail. “Lets show Lao we still have teeth.”
Even as the two hunters achieved lock on the Resplendent, the Centauri gunners opened up in all directions. The small fighter carrier had moved to close to the battle in an attempt to try and recover downed pilots and simply disintegrated under the weight of fire. Ahead the Mater suffered a similar fate, its interceptors putting up a valiant defence before they failed. Both the Kali and Nike proved elusive to weapons fire and reeked vengeance as their beams crossed in the centre of the Centauri battleship, carving it in twain.
Sweeping through the wreckage, the battered but healing Hunters attempted to reform but were lashed by weapons fire from the Destiny and the Valiant Shield. Aboard the Kali, the gunfire had ceased within the corridors and the Centauri marines were approaching the bridge. The Crimson Claw limped back toward the fight, wreckage in its wake.
Uncharted System, Spinward of the Centauri Republic
The Octurion Resplendent cruised forward effortlessly on its gravitic engines, the rays of the distant sun glancing of its huge purple and gold surface. On its left flank the tiny Maximus escort frigate was forced to burn fuel to keep up with its vast charge.
Lumbering after the Centauri battleship came a second grand vessel, its catamaran like design providing launch bay from which a swarm of crescent shaped fighters were emerging. Prowling restlessly on the far right flank was the sleek dangerous shape of the Crimson Claw, a Demos class raider.
The Republic did not currently claim the system they had entered but with the recent defeat of the Narn, the Royal Navy was being far more proactive in patrolling the border and once forgotten outposts and territory.
A previous patrol had gone missing in the system, and command suspected that perhaps remnants of the Narn fleet were using it as a refuge, something that could not be tolerated.
……………….
Unbeknown to Lord Kalvor, commanding the small fleet, his arrival in system had already been noted and examined. A small blocky craft, cloaked in advanced electronic countermeasures was monitoring its movements from a safe distance until a suitable response was decided upon.
Hidden deep within the systems primary asteroid belt was a secret facility almost unique and tasked with producing a whole new type of vessel for its masters.
One of these creations had returned from a mission and was maintaining station, lurking in local hyperspace, its advanced technology and ancient heritage making this an effortless task.
…………………………….
Lord Kalvor was bored having spent a full day wandering through the apparently deserted system looking for thrice damned Narn. He yawned and was contemplated ordering a return to Centauri space when the sensor operator broke into his thoughts.
“My Lord we are detecting unknown ship approaching our position, moving through the nebula.”
“At last, they emerge from hiding! Durus, bring the ship to battle readiness and announce an extra round of Bravarii to the gunnery crew that first scores a hit on the Narn.”
“Tavoris, alert the fleet, Prepare to engage – tell them to fire as achieve a lock, order the fighters to advance and attack – I don’t want them to become targets for their damned emines.”
The command deck grinned, the Lord was generous with his best Bravarii when his crew pleased him.
The Centauri behemoth engaged its primary engines and began to accelerate slowly, fighters streaking past its bulk and moving ahead to deal with the primitive Narn craft.
………………..
Approaching through the Nebula, the targets of the advancing craft were less happy to see their opponents, although thanks to the scout, Echo were fully conversant with the enemy vessels and their capabilities.
“Another bunch of fan heads, I had hoped we had seen the last of those bloated idiots.” Captain Summers had remarked on seeing the report from the Echo, but after a day of watching and waiting it seemed the Centauri had no plans to leave the system anytime soon.
The Mater was one of the most important ships in the Psi Corp arsenal and was not designed for battle. The facility hidden behind it was even more vital, producing awesome weapons that could be turned against the mundanes, when the inevitable war began.
Ahead of the Mothership were small dark craft, almost hidden in the void, their engine flares preventing total concealment. Some distance from the dusky star furies were a smaller group of pure black craft, their lines distorted by organic growths that were difficult to fully perceive.
Near the Mater was a converted transport, its cargo pods altered to provide basic launch and recovery capabilities, which had brought most of the Black Omegas to the battle. Like the command ship she was lightly armed and even more lightly armoured, relying on its limited electronic warfare systems and interceptor batteries to provide protection.
The offensive power of the fleet rested with two sleek hunters – one lurking in hyperspace – the other moving to flank the unsuspecting Centauri warships using the desolate rockball as cover
…………………..
“Duras, what do we have then, how many ships can the Narn muster to face us?”
“Er…yes, hmm, Well My Lord, I am having trouble identifying the vessels, they seem to be disrupting our sensors….”
“What?” Kalvor leaned forward in his grand throne for a moment, before easing his bulk out to look at the sensor readings………he had fought enough skirmishes in his nearly forgotten youth to know that stealth was not part of the Narn arsenal.
He peered over his subordinate’s shoulder, his considerable weight transferred through one hand on the shoulder.
“That’s no Narn ship………………” he looked up at the main view screen, trying to see what the sensors could not.
“Hura, bring us to maximum attack speed, get us in range of that vessel, whatever it is. Durus, send the Claw to flank the enemy and make sure we have no surprises near that forsaken moon.”
………………
Summers stood up in surprise as several km of Centauri battleship began to accelerate towards his increasingly vulnerable command ship. Previous encounters with Centauri captains had been very one sided – they had been nervous and incompetent. Whatever the flaws of this new opponent, nervousness was not one of them.
“Comms, order the Kali to attack, “he turned to the dark haired woman behind his chair and nodded, “its time to show our hand”
She grimaced and carefully reached out with her mind to the thing that waited in hyperspace, forcing her mind to approach its wrongness and give the commander the order to begin his attack run,
……………
“My Lord, a jump point forming behind us…….perhaps we should………….”
“NO, Ignore it, our target is ahead, divert squadrons one through five to break and engage whatever comes through.”
“The Crimson Claw reports a unknown contact by the planet, closing fast, unable to obtain a target lock. She is accelerating to combat speed.”
“Good, Good, Crisaris scents blood…………” The Lords feral grin vanished as the whole ship lurched as it suffered an impact.
“Great maker, what hit us – damage report
“Unknown, some kind of beam weapon, extremely powerful, luckily it was only a glancing blow.”
Moving quickly through the jump point, a strangely configured organic ship had raced straight into the attack, brushing off the fire from the small swarm of Centauri fighters who had quickly downed the few fighters that had accompanied it into real space. It had lashed out with a purple beam of energy, just catching the vast ship ahead of it, but only for a moment and whilst its power was able to match its ancestors, the accuracy was lacking.
Ahead of the Octurion, the energetic razik and sentri fighters leapt forwards to engage the small cloud of enemy fighters that were closing on their flagship. Fully confident in their capabilities of their own craft and receiving real time updates from the comprehensive flight control centre on the Balvarin class fleet carrier Triumphant Destiny, they swept into a flurry of weaving dogfights.
……………..
“Guns, engage the Centauri battleship”
A coherent energy beam lanced out from the Mater and lashed at the Replendant, but its thick centuries old armour proved as effective as when it had been crafted and most of the energy dissipated harmlessly.
…………..
“There………. I see you……. My friend, prepare to feel my wrath, Hura, get me some more speed, I need to get closer.”
“Crimson Claw reports heavy damage but is continuing to engage”
“The Destiny has a lock on the enemy, firing now”
……………..
The Kali was one of the most advanced vessels in the known galaxy, its sable form the product of reverse engineering the technology of the First Ones. It only mounted one weapon, but the power of the molecular slicing beam had served the Shadows for untold ages. Its crew were both well trained and experienced in the ways of battle and it was cloaked with sophisticated jamming systems.
It was fortunate that the gunners of the Triumphant Destiny were blissfully aware of how outclassed they were as they achieved a brief target lock and unleashed the full power of their ion and matter cannons. A storm of fire enveloped the Kali, flaying layers of organic material and causing a series of explosions across the ship.
From a unsurpassed hunter, the Kali was transformed into a drifting target, it’s deadly beam system unable to fire. Luckily for its crew, it had also inherited the ability to repair and regenerate and painfully slowly its damaged systems began to knit together and reenergize.
………………….
The Mater was far too slow and lumbering to do anything more than sit helplessly as the massive bulk of the Resplendent approached.
“Captain, Centauri warship approaching to optimum range, our jamming systems are having no effect.”
“All hands, brace for impact, this is going to be rough…………”
The battle laser stuck first, slicing across the hull of the command ship, ignoring the light armour but inflicting little damage. This was just precursor to the primary weapons of the Octurion, numerous batteries of Ion and Matter Cannons, which were quick to light up the void between the two ships.
The vaunted interceptor system immediately went into action to blunt the attack, struggling to repel the sheer volume of fire that was being flung at it. Quickly, the defence system was overpowered and enemy fire broke through, hammering into the delicate hull, smashing weapons, killing crew and causing a primary reactor to shut down due to damage.
The bridge of the Mater was no less badly hit, several crew were flung to the deck by secondary explosions and systems blew out. Yet she was still there, her weapons remained on line and capable of striking back.
The heavy laser bored into the Resplendent, vaporising a whole heavy turret mount and burning through a primary targeting matrix.
…………………
“My Lord, significant damage to enemy vessel, gun crew four request confirmation of their Bravrii.”
Lord Kalvor laughed, “Yes, Yes, now lets finish them………Durus have we got a lock on the other ships, the one Destiny just blooded?”“
No my Lord, some kind of cloaking field protects, attempting to compensate.”
“My Lord, Centauriata Mirvor reports all enemy fighters destroyed, but only a few of our own remain, they are returning to the destiny to rearm”.
“Ahhh it is a good day to be a Centauri, now.……Great Maker!”
The whole vast ship lurched to one side as a cutting beam sliced across the armoured surface, shattering a gravitic propulsion wing and causing secondary explosions throughout the ship. Triangulating the beam back to its source, the rear batteries of the Octurion returned fire, causing minor damage to the Hunter but doing nothing to deflect it from its course as it closed on the rear of the Resplendent.
………………….
Captain Lao smiled as he watched his sister ship drift helplessly, he had always considered himself the star of the new programme and he was about to prove it. He imagined the cursing that would be spouting from his fellow commander’s lips and his smile widened.
“Mr Simmons, continue firing until that peacocks barge is removed from my screen.”
“Aye Sir, weapon charged……………firing now.”
Again the purple beam carved its way into the Centauri battleship, ignoring the armour to tar through completely to the opposite hull. Return fire from the Resplendent chased sensor ghosts and missed the Nike which continued to slice and dice its way through the enemy flagship.
Aboard the Kali, repair crews and the ship itself continued to try and bring primary systems back on line, not helped by occasional speculative shots from the Destiny as the shimmering form of the dark craft drifted lazily across the bows of the carrier.
Exaltus Toross surveyed the command bridge of the Triumphant Destiny, even larger and more ornate than his Admirals, all was right with the universe, his Astus Centari has swept the void free from the enemy craft and as yet his great ship was untouched. The same could not be said for the Resplendent, with huge burning scars and increasing trail of debris – ahh the perils of command he mused, what a shame……
“Maximari, our weapons are having trouble destroying that…craft, launch the Larisi and have the Legionaries take it as a prize. Tell Mirvor to suppress any defences. ”
…………………….
A flight of assault shuttles burned from the right hand launch bay and in a rapidly shifting attack pattern flew at the Kali, several flights of sentris drawing fire from its point defence batteries. Two shuttles crumpled under the concentrated fire of the guns, but the other four made it though and their crews began burning through the strange material of the black hull. Sirens wailed on the Kali as the battered hull was breached and the sound of weapons fire began to reverberate through its corridors.
“Engines are responding, Weapon is back on line”, the young lieutenant wiped the blood from his face as he reported the good news.
“Seal the doors, bring us into range of the battleship, Mr Olson”, Captain Uresh carefully moved her broken leg and injected herself with a stimms/painkiller cocktail. “Lets show Lao we still have teeth.”
Even as the two hunters achieved lock on the Resplendent, the Centauri gunners opened up in all directions. The small fighter carrier had moved to close to the battle in an attempt to try and recover downed pilots and simply disintegrated under the weight of fire. Ahead the Mater suffered a similar fate, its interceptors putting up a valiant defence before they failed. Both the Kali and Nike proved elusive to weapons fire and reeked vengeance as their beams crossed in the centre of the Centauri battleship, carving it in twain.
Sweeping through the wreckage, the battered but healing Hunters attempted to reform but were lashed by weapons fire from the Destiny and the Valiant Shield. Aboard the Kali, the gunfire had ceased within the corridors and the Centauri marines were approaching the bridge. The Crimson Claw limped back toward the fight, wreckage in its wake.
