Lord Hiron Dachow licked suddenly dry lips as the Star of Destruction exited hyperspace, swiftly followed by the pair of Sullusts that formed the offensive arm of his small squadron. The Guardian Star, a redoubtable Maximus completed the formation and the energy vortex was allowed to dissipate.
He gestured towards the serving girl that stood nervously by his command throne and drank deep of the goblet of bravri she proffered. The ships sensors had been fully restored by the time he finished and to his relief, they quickly confirmed the arrival of the Invincible, a huge Balvarin class carrier and its escorting Darkner nearby.
Thus far all was going to plan, unlike several more recent engagements he considered. The crew were thus far, performing well, despite their inexperience which had showed in the previous brutal encounter with the Gaim. The increases in ship’s discipline following the humiliating defeat had paid off apparently. He waved the girl away, aware that having such women on board was one of a number of indulgences that had laid to the laxity in his crew – but he mused, he was still a Centauri Lord and was entitled to a few luxuries, no?
Clearing his throat he ordered the two formations of ships forward into the system, scanners to maximum as they sought his prey. As the Republic recovered from decades of decline and began to expand again, it had run into unexpected and unwelcome resistance. Not only from the League but from one of the Eldar races – the Minbari who for unknown reasons had taken exception to the Centauri claim on an unexplored, uninhabited system! His elder brother, Siron had fought an ill-advised action against them and whilst almost his entire force had (as was to be expected) perished, he had survived and even inflicted a surprisingly bloody nose on the Minbari.
Thank the Great Maker Hiron was not expected to engage such enemies – merely punish a group of League upstarts who dared to attack a Centauri convoy. Whilst this would have been grounds for extensive retribution in normal circumstances, the convoy had contained several huge pleasure craft containing nobles from the Royal Court. Luckily Siron had managed to once again avert a disaster by driving off the raiders, although he had nearly lost his own Liati again in the process – the Huntress was now battle hardened but its sleek lines were a mass of patchwork repairs from both the battles.
His own Primus has been fully repaired and indeed his chief engineer had somehow managed to squeeze more power out of his battle laser, extending its range - much to his relief – he had no wish to try engaging the Gaim at short range again.
His musings were interrupted by one of his officers “My Lord, enemy ships coming into sensor range” “What are they?” he snapped, surprised that the enemy were coming to meet him here in the outer reaches of the system. Looking at his gilded personnel display, the only clue he was anywhere near a star was a large and dense mass of asteroids half way between the two approaching groups of ships.
“Warbook says the large flanking craft is a Pshul’shi Convoy guardian, looks like a Xixx class bombardment saucer and perhaps a Vaarl – sensors can’t make it out. There is another ship My Lord”, the officer hesitated before he continued……..”its Gaim, perhaps a Shaakak class – she is launching fighters……..”
His knuckles white on the arms of his throne he ordered his fleet to slow and prepare for long range engagement, confirming the Guardian Star was ready to reinforce his ships defences. The Invincible launched a squadron of Razik fighters to join his own interceptors and as ordered they pulled back to avoid the expected emines that could devastate such fragile craft. He controlled his growing fear as his squadron advanced, leaving the Balvarin and its escort to the rear.
As they closed towards weapons range, the Resolution, a recent addition to his command, reported several vessels in the League fleet were targeting them, aided by the hidden Vree scout. Moments after Hiron gave the order to brace for impact, space around the two craft erupted in fire as nuclear fire bathed the two cruisers. As the ravening energy abated, Hrion was relived to hear that only minor damage had been inflicted.
A minute later he was even more pleased to be informed that his squadron was now in range of the huge pak vessel. He had been incredulous that the carrion eaters seemed to be leading the League raiders – perhaps an aberration in their gene pool – one that needed erasing.
The battle lasers lashed out from the three Centauri ships, and it was obvious that the recent enforced gunnery drills had born fruit as a series of secondary explosions could be seen enveloping the engines of the Convoy Guardian and it lurched, obviously out of control.
The giant craft retaliated, but it seemed it had concentrated on its own defence and only one salvo of plasma torpedoes sped towards the Resolution, guided in by the hidden Vree Scout. The point defence systems managed to claw the missiles out of the sky with only one torpedo impacting on the hull, causing minor damage.
The small cloud of Gaim drones milled about in front of the League ships and Hiron ordered his own fighters to emulate them, hanging back our of range of the deadly emines but close enough to cover his ships if required. The Primus and its escorts held position as the pak vessel drifted forwards and then unleashed a second fusillade of lasers which proved even more effective than the first. Massive explosions cloaked the front of the pak vessel as its torpedo bays exploded and melted the forward facing plasma batteries into useless scrap.
In response a small group of deadly missiles streaked out from the smaller Vree vessel as the indistinct shape of the scout also unleashed a hail of green antimatter particles. Despite the Guardian Star assisting, several struck home, causing heavy damage to the Sullust. Horrified, Hiron watched as nuclear fire again descended on the two ships. Whilst the huge Primus absorbed the damage with disdain, the Resolution was vulnerable as explosions cascaded through the rents torn into its hull and ravaged its remaining crew. Following close on the bombs launched by their Queen came the drones, accelerating towards the Centauri ships.
He forced himself to remain impassive as he ordered his ships to concentrate on the primary target but it seemed the devastation wrought on the Sullust affected his gunnery crews as his own ships lasers missed the huge target. However, his point defence and Ion Cannon batteries sought to match the skill of his Razik pilots who dived into the fray, slaughtering several flights of Drones. As the energy cleared, it became clear that the Vree and Gaim were using the Drones and the helpless pak vessel as a decoy as they withdrew.
The Centauri closed on their primary target whose crew could only watch as the beams lashed out again. A final salvo of nuclear bombs avenged the fallen drones as the Resolution perished in their fire, but Hiron could claim his first victory!
A very one sided game in the end – 3 point battle –Assassination (Centuari attacker) – taking the Convoy Guardians Engines (3x 2, 6 crits in first 2 turns) and then the Front arc (6, 4 crit) off line in the first two turns simply made it more so. The only real threat due to my significant numbers of interceptors was the Gaim drones / emines and the former never really materialised. That we only rolled one piece of terrain also helped me as I had chosen a L/R and defence heavy fleet). Firing first every turn is also a big advantage as well as Ken having a restricted fleet to choose from due to previous loses.
Still Ken did roll an upgrade to his Gaim ship giving it quad damage ,SAP emines rather than mere double damage , AP- I got +2 Anti-fighter on my Primus.
He gestured towards the serving girl that stood nervously by his command throne and drank deep of the goblet of bravri she proffered. The ships sensors had been fully restored by the time he finished and to his relief, they quickly confirmed the arrival of the Invincible, a huge Balvarin class carrier and its escorting Darkner nearby.
Thus far all was going to plan, unlike several more recent engagements he considered. The crew were thus far, performing well, despite their inexperience which had showed in the previous brutal encounter with the Gaim. The increases in ship’s discipline following the humiliating defeat had paid off apparently. He waved the girl away, aware that having such women on board was one of a number of indulgences that had laid to the laxity in his crew – but he mused, he was still a Centauri Lord and was entitled to a few luxuries, no?
Clearing his throat he ordered the two formations of ships forward into the system, scanners to maximum as they sought his prey. As the Republic recovered from decades of decline and began to expand again, it had run into unexpected and unwelcome resistance. Not only from the League but from one of the Eldar races – the Minbari who for unknown reasons had taken exception to the Centauri claim on an unexplored, uninhabited system! His elder brother, Siron had fought an ill-advised action against them and whilst almost his entire force had (as was to be expected) perished, he had survived and even inflicted a surprisingly bloody nose on the Minbari.
Thank the Great Maker Hiron was not expected to engage such enemies – merely punish a group of League upstarts who dared to attack a Centauri convoy. Whilst this would have been grounds for extensive retribution in normal circumstances, the convoy had contained several huge pleasure craft containing nobles from the Royal Court. Luckily Siron had managed to once again avert a disaster by driving off the raiders, although he had nearly lost his own Liati again in the process – the Huntress was now battle hardened but its sleek lines were a mass of patchwork repairs from both the battles.
His own Primus has been fully repaired and indeed his chief engineer had somehow managed to squeeze more power out of his battle laser, extending its range - much to his relief – he had no wish to try engaging the Gaim at short range again.
His musings were interrupted by one of his officers “My Lord, enemy ships coming into sensor range” “What are they?” he snapped, surprised that the enemy were coming to meet him here in the outer reaches of the system. Looking at his gilded personnel display, the only clue he was anywhere near a star was a large and dense mass of asteroids half way between the two approaching groups of ships.
“Warbook says the large flanking craft is a Pshul’shi Convoy guardian, looks like a Xixx class bombardment saucer and perhaps a Vaarl – sensors can’t make it out. There is another ship My Lord”, the officer hesitated before he continued……..”its Gaim, perhaps a Shaakak class – she is launching fighters……..”
His knuckles white on the arms of his throne he ordered his fleet to slow and prepare for long range engagement, confirming the Guardian Star was ready to reinforce his ships defences. The Invincible launched a squadron of Razik fighters to join his own interceptors and as ordered they pulled back to avoid the expected emines that could devastate such fragile craft. He controlled his growing fear as his squadron advanced, leaving the Balvarin and its escort to the rear.
As they closed towards weapons range, the Resolution, a recent addition to his command, reported several vessels in the League fleet were targeting them, aided by the hidden Vree scout. Moments after Hiron gave the order to brace for impact, space around the two craft erupted in fire as nuclear fire bathed the two cruisers. As the ravening energy abated, Hrion was relived to hear that only minor damage had been inflicted.
A minute later he was even more pleased to be informed that his squadron was now in range of the huge pak vessel. He had been incredulous that the carrion eaters seemed to be leading the League raiders – perhaps an aberration in their gene pool – one that needed erasing.
The battle lasers lashed out from the three Centauri ships, and it was obvious that the recent enforced gunnery drills had born fruit as a series of secondary explosions could be seen enveloping the engines of the Convoy Guardian and it lurched, obviously out of control.
The giant craft retaliated, but it seemed it had concentrated on its own defence and only one salvo of plasma torpedoes sped towards the Resolution, guided in by the hidden Vree Scout. The point defence systems managed to claw the missiles out of the sky with only one torpedo impacting on the hull, causing minor damage.
The small cloud of Gaim drones milled about in front of the League ships and Hiron ordered his own fighters to emulate them, hanging back our of range of the deadly emines but close enough to cover his ships if required. The Primus and its escorts held position as the pak vessel drifted forwards and then unleashed a second fusillade of lasers which proved even more effective than the first. Massive explosions cloaked the front of the pak vessel as its torpedo bays exploded and melted the forward facing plasma batteries into useless scrap.
In response a small group of deadly missiles streaked out from the smaller Vree vessel as the indistinct shape of the scout also unleashed a hail of green antimatter particles. Despite the Guardian Star assisting, several struck home, causing heavy damage to the Sullust. Horrified, Hiron watched as nuclear fire again descended on the two ships. Whilst the huge Primus absorbed the damage with disdain, the Resolution was vulnerable as explosions cascaded through the rents torn into its hull and ravaged its remaining crew. Following close on the bombs launched by their Queen came the drones, accelerating towards the Centauri ships.
He forced himself to remain impassive as he ordered his ships to concentrate on the primary target but it seemed the devastation wrought on the Sullust affected his gunnery crews as his own ships lasers missed the huge target. However, his point defence and Ion Cannon batteries sought to match the skill of his Razik pilots who dived into the fray, slaughtering several flights of Drones. As the energy cleared, it became clear that the Vree and Gaim were using the Drones and the helpless pak vessel as a decoy as they withdrew.
The Centauri closed on their primary target whose crew could only watch as the beams lashed out again. A final salvo of nuclear bombs avenged the fallen drones as the Resolution perished in their fire, but Hiron could claim his first victory!
A very one sided game in the end – 3 point battle –Assassination (Centuari attacker) – taking the Convoy Guardians Engines (3x 2, 6 crits in first 2 turns) and then the Front arc (6, 4 crit) off line in the first two turns simply made it more so. The only real threat due to my significant numbers of interceptors was the Gaim drones / emines and the former never really materialised. That we only rolled one piece of terrain also helped me as I had chosen a L/R and defence heavy fleet). Firing first every turn is also a big advantage as well as Ken having a restricted fleet to choose from due to previous loses.
Still Ken did roll an upgrade to his Gaim ship giving it quad damage ,SAP emines rather than mere double damage , AP- I got +2 Anti-fighter on my Primus.
