Sgt. Slaughter Posted January 19, 2021 Share Posted January 19, 2021 Alone in his darkened stateroom, Slaughter breathed in and out in a measured cadence. He tried to not focus on the aching in his knees and legs from sitting on an unpadded floor for a few hours. His mind occasionally drifted to the usual anxieties; the knowledge that, no matter how well this day went, thousands of sapients would be sent to their deaths; the tenuous ties of the coalesced factions that comprised the Rebel Alliance; occasionally drifting towards the battle plan and the routes of attack to the orbital shipyards. That was fine. He knew the plan and the mathematics and the tonnage of fuel that each contingency would require; it was impossible to stop his mind from occasionally dwelling on that. What he did not know was how fiercely the Sith would fight to defend this system. The system’s garrison would likely be substantial; might even include some newly-built Golans. What he could not know was how motivated they would be to fight. Would they risk devastating their world’s economy by risking engagement near the shipyards? Would they attempt to scuttle them? His eyes closed and sitting on a thin mat, Admiral Slaughter continually wrestled his mind away from what he could not know and back to the simple cadence of his breath. In any minute, his Ugnaught yeoman would soon-- “Admiral. Fifteen minutes before reversion.” “Thank you, Gnugga.” In an instant, the middle-aged Admiral’s eyes snapped open and he rose to his feet with surprising alacrity for a man his age and weight. “Have caf and water waiting on the bridge. I’ll be there in five.” ____ Three minutes later, the Admiral strode onto the bridge of Fidelity, thoughtlessly returning a sentry’s salute. The proffered caf was guzzled in mere seconds, the Admiral ignoring the peculiar chemical taste that infested every mess hall in the Alliance. Liquid energy was what he needed, not a sad attempt at the blunt-force weapon flavor of proper navy-grade caf. The tactical pit in the center of the bridge was already displaying a hologram of their destination. Admiral Slaughter paced around the star and its smattering of planets, checking one last time for any detail he might have missed--an unusually large planetoid, a dense cluster of asteroids. It was nearly ten minutes before his reverie was interrupted. “It’s Fondor, sir. Chrystin’s from there,” his Twi’lek XO nodded towards the weapons terminals. That was one of the few shipyards in the galaxy capable of building Star Dreadnoughts. That certainly complicated matters. However, he had little chance to dwell on how critical this objective would be to the war effort, for the last thirty seconds of the hyperspace jump were counted down and the swirling blue of hyperspace were replaced by the inky starfield of realspace, marred only by the steely shapes of his ships and the glow of their sublights. “Signal jump complete. Launch alert fighters and prep the rest of the complement. Continue the approach, no signals to Fondor. Let’s see what they’re thinking.” ____ Rebel Alliance Destroyer Group [Missiles] |One| Taskforce Experience Green (1xp) KDY-Victory II-class Cruiser L'Ouverture |9/9| KDY-Victory II-class Cruiser Gerrera |9/9| Rebel Alliance Heavy Brawler Escort |Fidelity| Taskforce Experience Green (1xp) MCS-MC90-class Star Cruiser Fidelity |35/25| Rebel Alliance Precision Strike Carrier Group |Taffy-14| Taskforce Experience Green (1xp) KDY-Nebula-class Star Destroyer Benediction |25/25| Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt. Slaughter Posted January 26, 2021 Share Posted January 26, 2021 So there was an active garrison present at Fondor, it quickly became apparent, including that damned Sith flagship Goliath. The muscles at Admiral’s jaws bunched up and gritted; undoubtedly that irritating Dreadnought had been redeployed to Fondor for repairs and refitting after the thrashing it had received at Corellia; the same was likely for the other veterans of that ruinous campaign. This was going to be a difficult battle--the two fleets were nearly equally matched, though Slaughter’s faith in his experienced crew of Galactic Alliance veterans was supreme. “Ahead flank, shields front. Track their targeting vectors, adjust course to intercept. Let’s see if we can draw some of their fire, buy time for our friends to pummel them into submission.” The canopy around Fidelity’s bridge gained a faint blue hue as the ship’s sublight engines burned with an extraordinary brightness that indicated that they were operating beyond safe limits. “Launch the alert bombers.” “Sir! Sensors--sublight emissions suggest stealth cruisers, not sure where they are.” His meaty hands balled into reddened fists. Something was out there that their sensors couldn’t quite detect--but the emissions of sublight engines never lied. Even the cleanest-burning drives with the purest isotopes left some trace of exhaust. Detecting the hull, however, was an entirely different matter… “Cloakers…” He harrumphed. “Now they're standard-issue. Wonderful. What a fascinating, modern age we live in. Alert gunnery crews; they may fire when ready.” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt. Slaughter Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 (edited) Rebel Alliance (Shield/Hull) Royal Hapan Naval Precision Strike Carrier Group |Coldstream| Taskforce Experience Green (1xp) O/C-Battle dragon class Cruiser: Ri'Aldech |25/25| Royal Hapan Naval Assault Lance [Kinetic Ram] |Kitchener| Task Force Experience: Green (1xp) O/C-Battle dragon class Cruiser: Transvaal |25/25| Royal Hapan Naval Heavy Brawler Escort |Zeeland| Task Force Experience: Green (1xp) O/C-Battle dragon class Cruiser: Victoria |25/35| Rebel Alliance Destroyer Group [Missiles] |One| Taskforce Experience Green (1xp) KDY-Victory II-class Cruiser L'Ouverture |3/9| KDY-Victory II-class Cruiser Gerrera |9/9| Rebel Alliance Heavy Brawler Escort |Fidelity| Taskforce Experience Green (1xp) MCS-MC90-class Star Cruiser Fidelity |12/35| Rebel Alliance Precision Strike Carrier Group |Taffy-14| Taskforce Experience Green (1xp) KDY-Nebula-class Star Destroyer Benediction |25/25| Mandalorian Neo-Crusader Destroyer Group [Railguns] |Akalenedat| Task Force Experience: Green (1xp) IPM Neo-Kandosii-class Battleship: Xaakzaamheid |25/25| Mandalorian Neo-Crusader Destroyer Group [Missiles] |Bes'bev| Task Force Experience: Green (1xp) IPM Neo-Kandosii-class Battleship: Nat’ah |25/25| Mandalorian Neo-Crusader Light Defensive Escort: Suppressing Fire |Cabur| Task Force Experience: Green (1xp) IPM Fane-of-Swords-class Frigate Vlissingen |3/3| IPM Fane-of-Swords-class Frigate Leeuwarden |3/3| IPM Fane-of-Swords-class Frigate Nassau |3/3| IPM Fane-of-Swords-class Frigate Vrijheid |0/0| IPM Jehavey'ir-class Assault Corvette Stavoren |2/1| IPM Jehavey'ir-class Assault Corvette Oosterwijk |2/1| IPM Jehavey'ir-class Assault Corvette Jaarsveld |1/1| IPM Jehavey'ir-class Assault Corvette Boekenroode |0/0| ________ A number of fighters managed to make it through the interceptor screen thrown up by Benediction. Torpedoes hammered Fidelity's shields, lighting the bridge in fiery red but failing to penetrate the stubborn old cruiser's shields. Slaughter glanced away from the holographic pit just in time to catch the sublight glow of a flight of A-Wings, spitting laser fire in the wake of the TIEs. Two of the Mandalorian vessels were caught under the guns of Herlov and were disabled, likely to be total casualties unless a support tug managed to recover the vessels--an unlikely proposition in the middle of a battle.. The Admiral's reaction was to clear his throat and issue updated vectors for the fleet's maneuvers. Edited January 30, 2021 by ObliviousKnight Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt. Slaughter Posted February 10, 2021 Share Posted February 10, 2021 (edited) Rebel Alliance Fleet Status: End of Round Two (Shields/Hull) Royal Hapan Naval Precision Strike Carrier Group |Coldstream| Taskforce Experience Green (1xp) O/C-Battle dragon class Cruiser: Ri'Aldech |19/22| Royal Hapan Naval Assault Lance [Kinetic Ram] |Kitchener| Task Force Experience: Green (1xp) O/C-Battle dragon class Cruiser: Transvaal |25/25| Royal Hapan Naval Heavy Brawler Escort |Zeeland| Task Force Experience: Green (1xp) O/C-Battle dragon class Cruiser: Victoria |25/35| Rebel Alliance Destroyer Group [Missiles] |One| Taskforce Experience Green (1xp) KDY-Victory II-class Cruiser L'Ouverture |0/6| KDY-Victory II-class Cruiser Gerrera |9/9| Rebel Alliance Heavy Brawler Escort |Fidelity| Taskforce Experience Green (1xp) MCS-MC90-class Star Cruiser Fidelity |8/35| Rebel Alliance Precision Strike Carrier Group |Taffy-14| Taskforce Experience Green (1xp) KDY-Nebula-class Star Destroyer Benediction |23/24| Mandalorian Neo-Crusader Destroyer Group [Railguns] |Akalenedat| Task Force Experience: Green (1xp) IPM Neo-Kandosii-class Battleship: Xaakzaamheid |25/25| Mandalorian Neo-Crusader Destroyer Group [Missiles] |Bes'bev| Task Force Experience: Green (1xp) IPM Neo-Kandosii-class Battleship: Nat’ah |25/25| Mandalorian Neo-Crusader Light Defensive Escort: Suppressing Fire |Cabur| Task Force Experience: Green (1xp) IPM Fane-of-Swords-class Frigate Vlissingen |3/3| IPM Fane-of-Swords-class Frigate Leeuwarden |0/3| IPM Fane-of-Swords-class Frigate Nassau |0/0| IPM Fane-of-Swords-class Frigate Vrijheid |0/0| IPM Jehavey'ir-class Assault Corvette Stavoren |2/1| IPM Jehavey'ir-class Assault Corvette Oosterwijk |0/0| IPM Jehavey'ir-class Assault Corvette Jaarsveld |0/0| ________ The merciless exchange of fire continued. A heavy blast shuddered under the deckplates of Fidelity’s bridge, causing the stocky Admiral Slaughter to pitch forward and catch himself with a fist on the edge of the holographic pit. That fist went straight through one of the orbital shipyards surrounding Fondor, an icon represented by a murky grey that ringed the world. He glanced towards the crew pit; a nervous glance and a band of red icons was his response, and he understood even as he tuned out the damage report. One of the Calamari cruiser’s shield projectors had been hit in that last salvo. Shields were still holding--but a heavy barrage would overload the remainder of the ship’s shield array and start burning into armor. Fidelity was a tough ship, built at the same shipyards as his old flagship. The Mandalorians, unfortunately, had come under horrific fire--Herlov and Goliath had managed to maneuver onto the flank of L’Ouverture and Gerrera, the two Victory-class Star Destroyers that they had inherited from Black Sun, and they were emptying their oversized batteries of turbolasers into their hull. Those two missile cruisers were fighting back with everything they had, proton torpedoes and concussion missiles blazing out of their racks in an assembly line of smoke, ion jets, and explosions, and the Mandalorians… were actually holding position to protect the exposed flank. Some of the ships were even deliberately occluding the fire arcs of the enemy batteries, making themselves sapient shields at terrible cost. Multiple corvettes and frigates exploded or fell dark under the barrage. He was going to need to meet the commander of those Mandalorians, Slaughter resolved. Shake his hand, thank him for holding position despite horrific fire… and quietly hope that the Rebel Alliance would never again have to fight the Crusaders in the future. Edited February 11, 2021 by Sgt. Slaughter Correction to HP on Missile Destroyer Group |One| Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt. Slaughter Posted February 20, 2021 Share Posted February 20, 2021 Rebel Alliance Fleet Status: End of Round Three (Shields/Hull) Royal Hapan Naval Precision Strike Carrier Group |Coldstream| Taskforce Experience Green (1xp) O/C-Battle dragon class Cruiser: Ri'Aldech |0/20| Royal Hapan Naval Assault Lance [Kinetic Ram] |Kitchener| Task Force Experience: Green (1xp) O/C-Battle dragon class Cruiser: Transvaal |25/25| Royal Hapan Naval Heavy Brawler Escort |Zeeland| Task Force Experience: Green (1xp) O/C-Battle dragon class Cruiser: Victoria |21/35| Rebel Alliance Destroyer Group [Missiles] |One| Taskforce Experience Green (1xp) KDY-Victory II-class Cruiser L'Ouverture |0/0| KDY-Victory II-class Cruiser Gerrera |9/9| Rebel Alliance Heavy Brawler Escort |Fidelity| Taskforce Experience Green (1xp) MCS-MC90-class Star Cruiser Fidelity |8/35| Rebel Alliance Precision Strike Carrier Group |Taffy-14| Taskforce Experience Green (1xp) KDY-Nebula-class Star Destroyer Benediction |15/20| Mandalorian Neo-Crusader Destroyer Group [Railguns] |Akalenedat| Task Force Experience: Green (1xp) IPM Neo-Kandosii-class Battleship: Xaakzaamheid |25/25| Mandalorian Neo-Crusader Destroyer Group [Missiles] |Bes'bev| Task Force Experience: Green (1xp) IPM Neo-Kandosii-class Battleship: Nat’ah |25/25| Mandalorian Neo-Crusader Light Defensive Escort: Suppressing Fire |Cabur| Withdrawn Task Force Experience: Green (1xp) IPM Fane-of-Swords-class Frigate Vlissingen |3/3| IPM Fane-of-Swords-class Frigate Leeuwarden |0/3| IPM Fane-of-Swords-class Frigate Nassau |0/0| IPM Fane-of-Swords-class Frigate Vrijheid |0/0| IPM Jehavey'ir-class Assault Corvette Stavoren |2/1| IPM Jehavey'ir-class Assault Corvette Oosterwijk |0/0| IPM Jehavey'ir-class Assault Corvette Jaarsveld |0/0| ________ “There. L’Ouverture and Gerrera into that hole. We’ll break that damned ship over our knee. Thank the Mandos for their help, tell their supports to get out of there before they’re all dead, and give that bastard our finest.” Admiral Slaughter stabbed at a void in the holographic pit, as though poking at polygonal representations of his ships could somehow drive his ships any faster. But L’Ouverture and Gerrera seemed to have overloaded their engines, for they surged into a gap in the starfighter screens and engaged one of the larger Sith Star Destroyers at closer range. Fidelity fell behind in its coverage of the two Victory II-class Star Destroyers momentarily leaving L’Ouverture without the protection of their flagship’s heavier guns. This time, the barrage was coordinated with exquisite precision. The time-on-target volley from the two missile destroyers arrived nearly at the same moment as a salvo from one of the Mandalorian ships--Slaughter couldn’t even begin to pronounce its name. Tearing his eyes from the command pit for only a moment, he thought he detected an azure glow emitting from overloaded shields… and then that was extinguished when a squadron of B-Wings broke through its fighter coverage and strafed along its flanks. “Herlov’s shields are--” “Sir! L’Ouverture’s badly hit!” Slaughter didn’t need sensors to see what had happened to the old VicStar--no more than a kilometer away, the entire bridge was filled with the lightshow that was produced by the dagger-like ship’s demise. A horrific gout of fire tore free from the ship’s bow--a magazine detonation--and was rippling through the ship from stem to stern, tossing armor plates and turrets into the vacuum like children’s toys. That firequake continued through its engines, blowing out two of the massive cowlings free from the hull. Lights immediately flickered and died across the ship. A few batteries continued to fire, but those were either a last-moment attempt to empty a missile launcher’s magazine or the hopeless attempts of a trapped gunner to share his misery with the enemy. Even without listening to the damage report, Slaughter knew that L’Ouverture was dead. The ship was drifting as a black hulk and fires were blowing through the hull, spreading from where she’d been hit. For the old Star Destroyer, all that could be done was to evacuate as many crew as possible. This was going to be a costly day. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt. Slaughter Posted March 3, 2021 Share Posted March 3, 2021 Rebel Alliance Fleet Status: End of Round Four (Shields/Hull) Royal Hapan Naval Precision Strike Carrier Group |Coldstream| Destroyed Taskforce Experience Green (1xp) O/C-Battle dragon class Cruiser: Ri'Aldech |0/0| Royal Hapan Naval Assault Lance [Kinetic Ram] |Kitchener| Task Force Experience: Green (1xp) O/C-Battle dragon class Cruiser: Transvaal |21/25| Royal Hapan Naval Heavy Brawler Escort |Zeeland| Task Force Experience: Green (1xp) O/C-Battle dragon class Cruiser: Victoria |21/35| Rebel Alliance Destroyer Group [Missiles] |One| Taskforce Experience Green (1xp) KDY-Victory II-class Cruiser L'Ouverture |0/0| KDY-Victory II-class Cruiser Gerrera |6/9| Rebel Alliance Heavy Brawler Escort |Fidelity| Taskforce Experience Green (1xp) MCS-MC90-class Star Cruiser Fidelity |5/35| Rebel Alliance Precision Strike Carrier Group |Taffy-14| Taskforce Experience Green (1xp) KDY-Nebula-class Star Destroyer Benediction |15/20| Mandalorian Neo-Crusader Destroyer Group [Railguns] |Akalenedat| Task Force Experience: Green (1xp) IPM Neo-Kandosii-class Battleship: Xaakzaamheid |25/25| Mandalorian Neo-Crusader Destroyer Group [Missiles] |Bes'bev| Task Force Experience: Green (1xp) IPM Neo-Kandosii-class Battleship: Nat’ah |25/25| Mandalorian Neo-Crusader Light Defensive Escort: Suppressing Fire |Cabur| Withdrawn Task Force Experience: Green (1xp) IPM Fane-of-Swords-class Frigate Vlissingen |3/3| IPM Fane-of-Swords-class Frigate Leeuwarden |0/3| IPM Fane-of-Swords-class Frigate Nassau |0/0| IPM Fane-of-Swords-class Frigate Vrijheid |0/0| IPM Jehavey'ir-class Assault Corvette Stavoren |2/1| IPM Jehavey'ir-class Assault Corvette Oosterwijk |0/0| IPM Jehavey'ir-class Assault Corvette Jaarsveld |0/0| ________ Admiral Slaughter tuned out the warnings that Herlov had come within range of the Hapan carrier and was being converged upon by a swarm of Sith fighters. The crew of that ship knew as well that their vessel could not be saved and all that could be done was to jettison munitions from its flight deck in an attempt to cause their ship to be merely crippled, rather blown into space dust. His attention instead was on the encroaching Sith vessel. With its shields down and armor battered, now was finally an opportunity to finish off that damned Kyber-class Star Destroyer. He spoke quickly into the comms, coordinating a massive time-on-target barrage by the Mandalorian. An frightful array of missiles and physical projectiles ensued from the prows of the hulking battleships, plunging through the cloud of flitting starfighters, snuffing the life out of two of the smaller vessels in chance collisions. For a moment, it appeared almost as though the convergence of fire would strike the Star Destroyer in one of the buckled belts of armor, potentially crippling the steel beast… But that was not to happen. In a shocking display of attention to duty, one of the smaller cruisers maneuvered into position to occlude the breach with its comparatively more fragile bulk. There was no point in guessing the results of intercepting such a barrage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt. Slaughter Posted March 20, 2021 Share Posted March 20, 2021 Rebel Alliance Fleet Status: End of Round Five (Shields/Hull) Royal Hapan Naval Precision Strike Carrier Group |Coldstream| Destroyed Taskforce Experience Green (1xp) O/C-Battle dragon class Cruiser: Ri'Aldech |0/0| Royal Hapan Naval Assault Lance [Kinetic Ram] |Kitchener| Task Force Experience: Green (1xp) O/C-Battle dragon class Cruiser: Transvaal |21/25| Royal Hapan Naval Heavy Brawler Escort |Zeeland| Task Force Experience: Green (1xp) O/C-Battle dragon class Cruiser: Victoria |13/35| Rebel Alliance Destroyer Group [Missiles] |One| Taskforce Experience Green (1xp) KDY-Victory II-class Cruiser L'Ouverture |0/0| KDY-Victory II-class Cruiser Gerrera |6/5| Rebel Alliance Heavy Brawler Escort |Fidelity| Taskforce Experience Green (1xp) MCS-MC90-class Star Cruiser Fidelity |5/35| Rebel Alliance Precision Strike Carrier Group |Taffy-14| Taskforce Experience Green (1xp) KDY-Nebula-class Star Destroyer Benediction |4/20| Mandalorian Neo-Crusader Destroyer Group [Railguns] |Akalenedat| Task Force Experience: Green (1xp) IPM Neo-Kandosii-class Battleship: Xaakzaamheid |25/25| Mandalorian Neo-Crusader Destroyer Group [Missiles] |Bes'bev| Task Force Experience: Green (1xp) IPM Neo-Kandosii-class Battleship: Nat’ah |25/25| Mandalorian Neo-Crusader Light Defensive Escort: Suppressing Fire |Cabur| Withdrawn Task Force Experience: Green (1xp) IPM Fane-of-Swords-class Frigate Vlissingen |3/3| IPM Fane-of-Swords-class Frigate Leeuwarden |0/3| IPM Fane-of-Swords-class Frigate Nassau |0/0| IPM Fane-of-Swords-class Frigate Vrijheid |0/0| IPM Jehavey'ir-class Assault Corvette Stavoren |2/1| IPM Jehavey'ir-class Assault Corvette Oosterwijk |0/0| IPM Jehavey'ir-class Assault Corvette Jaarsveld |0/0| ________ Adrmial Slaughter breathed a sigh of relief as Herlov, under heavy fire from the Mandalorians and armor wracked from forecastle to stern, began to withdraw. It soon passed out of the effective range of those two battleships, and the middle-aged officer breathed a quiet admonition over the comlink to redirect their firepower to other targets. The view outside Fidelity’s canopy was still ablaze with missile streaks and explosions as starfighters found their marks; the engines of the surviving Hapan Battle Dragons seemed to glow with a hint of red under the blue-white of the sublight emissions; every report from Benediction indicated that fewer and fewer bombers were returning to its decks with each successive strike. But the enemy was suffering more severely than them. It was possible that this day would end in victory… and then the difficult part of his job would begin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt. Slaughter Posted April 2, 2021 Share Posted April 2, 2021 ((The HP remaining for |Kitchener| is based on conversations that we had over the Invasion of Fondor channel in the Discord.)) Royal Hapan Naval Precision Strike Carrier Group |Coldstream| Destroyed Taskforce Experience Green (1xp) O/C-Battle dragon class Cruiser: Ri'Aldech |0/0| Royal Hapan Naval Assault Lance [Kinetic Ram] |Kitchener| Task Force Experience: Green (1xp) O/C-Battle dragon class Cruiser: Transvaal |9/25| Royal Hapan Naval Heavy Brawler Escort |Zeeland| Task Force Experience: Green (1xp) O/C-Battle dragon class Cruiser: Victoria |13/35| Rebel Alliance Destroyer Group [Missiles] |One| Destroyed Taskforce Experience Green (1xp) KDY-Victory II-class Cruiser L'Ouverture |0/0| KDY-Victory II-class Cruiser Gerrera |0/0| Rebel Alliance Heavy Brawler Escort |Fidelity| Taskforce Experience Green (1xp) MCS-MC90-class Star Cruiser Fidelity |5/35| Rebel Alliance Precision Strike Carrier Group |Taffy-14| Taskforce Experience Green (1xp) KDY-Nebula-class Star Destroyer Benediction |0/9| Mandalorian Neo-Crusader Destroyer Group [Railguns] |Akalenedat| Task Force Experience: Green (1xp) IPM Neo-Kandosii-class Battleship: Xaakzaamheid |25/25| Mandalorian Neo-Crusader Destroyer Group [Missiles] |Bes'bev| Task Force Experience: Green (1xp) IPM Neo-Kandosii-class Battleship: Nat’ah |25/25| Mandalorian Neo-Crusader Light Defensive Escort: Suppressing Fire |Cabur| Withdrawn Task Force Experience: Green (1xp) IPM Fane-of-Swords-class Frigate Vlissingen |3/3| IPM Fane-of-Swords-class Frigate Leeuwarden |0/3| IPM Fane-of-Swords-class Frigate Nassau |0/0| IPM Fane-of-Swords-class Frigate Vrijheid |0/0| IPM Jehavey'ir-class Assault Corvette Stavoren |2/1| IPM Jehavey'ir-class Assault Corvette Oosterwijk |0/0| IPM Jehavey'ir-class Assault Corvette Jaarsveld |0/0| ________ The Rebel Admiral aboard Fidelity gave a long, slow blink. His eyes burning, Slaughter realized that it had been several minutes since he last dared to look away from his command post, even as the ghost of an shower of severed girders drifted by in the bridge’s canopy. That Hapan battering ram--an assault lance was the technical term, he only just remembered--had plowed through the hull of the Lucrehulk-class Cruiser, scattering debris and escape pods in its wake. Massive portions of the ship began to go dark--the ship was almost certainly incapacitated, perhaps even doomed to reactor overload. A flight of spiteful interceptors, either launched to escape from the dying ship or determined to avenge its wounds, strafed Fidelity’s bow. A ripple of molten armor cascaded into space, but those interceptors were soon set upon by a trio of Mandalorian droid-mounts. Fidelity, the grand old lady that she was, was still holding together. Barely. The same could not be said for the rest of his task force. The Nebula-class Star Destroyer Benediction, on its homecoming campaign to Fondor, suffered another one of the devastating turbolaser strikes from the cloaked cruiser. The last of the ships acquired from Black Sun, Gerrera, suffered a similar assault as a Mon Calamari-built cruiser plowed into the Victory-class Star Destroyer’s bridge and carried the entire superstructure away with it. That ship, however, was finally crippled by a sustained barrage from the Mandalorians. “Those gunnery crews must be having the times of their lives. How many kills, and barely more than token return fire.” Slaughter grumbled. His hazel eyes stared daggers into the flanks of the Star Dreadnought opposing him. “Come on, signal retreat. You can’t win this one…” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt. Slaughter Posted April 9, 2021 Share Posted April 9, 2021 Rebel Alliance Fleet Status: End of Round Seven (Shields/Hull) Royal Hapan Naval Precision Strike Carrier Group |Coldstream| Destroyed Taskforce Experience Green (1xp) O/C-Battle dragon class Cruiser: Ri'Aldech |0/0| Royal Hapan Naval Assault Lance [Kinetic Ram] |Kitchener| Task Force Experience: Green (1xp) O/C-Battle dragon class Cruiser: Transvaal |9/19| Royal Hapan Naval Heavy Brawler Escort |Zeeland| Task Force Experience: Green (1xp) O/C-Battle dragon class Cruiser: Victoria |13/35| Rebel Alliance Destroyer Group [Missiles] |One| Destroyed Taskforce Experience Green (1xp) KDY-Victory II-class Cruiser L'Ouverture |0/0| KDY-Victory II-class Cruiser Gerrera |0/0| Rebel Alliance Heavy Brawler Escort |Fidelity| Taskforce Experience Green (1xp) MCS-MC90-class Star Cruiser Fidelity |5/35| Rebel Alliance Precision Strike Carrier Group |Taffy-14| Destroyed Taskforce Experience Green (1xp) KDY-Nebula-class Star Destroyer Benediction |0/0| Mandalorian Neo-Crusader Destroyer Group [Railguns] |Akalenedat| Task Force Experience: Green (1xp) IPM Neo-Kandosii-class Battleship: Xaakzaamheid |19/25| Mandalorian Neo-Crusader Destroyer Group [Missiles] |Bes'bev| Task Force Experience: Green (1xp) IPM Neo-Kandosii-class Battleship: Nat’ah |25/25| Mandalorian Neo-Crusader Light Defensive Escort: Suppressing Fire |Cabur| Withdrawn Task Force Experience: Green (1xp) IPM Fane-of-Swords-class Frigate Vlissingen |3/3| IPM Fane-of-Swords-class Frigate Leeuwarden |0/3| IPM Fane-of-Swords-class Frigate Nassau |0/0| IPM Fane-of-Swords-class Frigate Vrijheid |0/0| IPM Jehavey'ir-class Assault Corvette Stavoren |2/1| IPM Jehavey'ir-class Assault Corvette Oosterwijk |0/0| IPM Jehavey'ir-class Assault Corvette Jaarsveld |0/0| ________ Another of those growling sighs rumbled its way from Slaughter’s throat as the damage report was bellowed from across the bridge. A squadron of TIEs were escaping from their successful bombing run, pursued by vengeful A-Wings, but the damage was already done. From his perspective, it appeared that Homecoming was lost. The armored recess that housed her bridge had been pummeled into a smoking crater, and two of her hangar decks were spouting great jets of flame, casting an orange-red pall on every object from kilometers away. Her refueling lines must have been compromised--that was enough to kill a battlecruiser, let alone a gutted carrier like the refitted Star Destroyer. There had been something said about “acceptable losses” in his briefing files. From his perspective, acceptable losses included almost everything as long as Fondor’s shipyards were taken intact; the abandoned hulks could be rebuilt. However, with the loss of one of the Hapan Battle Dragons and the loss of a number of the Mandalorian frigates, there was a possibility that the strategic implications to those fragile alliances would outweigh even the gain of those shipyards. There was no time to wonder about that. He could almost… feel the Sith breaking. There was a precious tension in the air. Comms chatter in the background squawked that one of Goliath’s shield generators had been hit and one of the Hapan commanders was excited about… something. “Homecoming, this is Fidelity Actual. Abandon ship. I repeat, signal abandon ship. You’ve done everything you can for us. Helm! Close to point-blank range. Rotate ninety degrees port. And Tal’dira--have our marines report to their shuttles.” ______ Homecoming, possibly the last of the Galactic Alliance’s Star Destroyers to have floated from Fondor’s orbital shipyards, had turned to a charnel house in the wake of that last starfighter assault. The severity of the damage was evident even from the exterior: one of its great sunlight engines was flickering madly in the void; the recessed bow where the ship’s bridge should have been had been turned into a crater; the dagger-like ship was burning from stem to stern and a fount of flame was issuing from one of its hangar. A quartet of point-defense towers were continuing to spit vermillion at the fleeing TIEs, but most of its self-defense measures consisted of a debris field that surrounded the ship. From any informed observer’s perspective, the ship was lost. The ship’s Senior Chief Petty Officer chose to remain in ignorance. Even as the command went out over the PA to abandon the ship, the Devaronian diverted from the pathway to the nearest escape pod to enter the Aft Damage Control station. The room was barely larger than a closet--in a cheap apartment, at that--and every square centimeter of the station’s walls were lined with switches and valves that controlled the less glamorous functions of the ship: the air conditioning, the power grid, hot water… and the refueling lines that ran to the hangars. From his position, he could subject the entire ship’s crew to a gasping death by asphyxiation. That same power could help him save it. Chief T’Veq’s first course of action was to study a detailed map of the ship’s fuel lines: most critically those that ran close to the warhead magazines. Nodding and giving a grin that would frighten a nexu, he calmly walked from one side of the room to the other, shutting down oxygen generators and flooding the ship’s plumbing with halon gas. The loss of life-support was no concern considering that the crew would evacuate within minutes. The damage to the ship from having its plumbing flooded with extinguisher foam would lay it in dry dock for months, but it might just save it from a cataclysmic explosion. His next action was to begin sealing blast doors--including the ones that would protect his station. He did not wonder how long it would take before carbon dioxide poisoning killed him. He expected to use his sidearm long before that became a concern. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt. Slaughter Posted April 12, 2021 Share Posted April 12, 2021 Rebel Alliance Fleet Status: End of Round Eight (Shields/Hull) Royal Hapan Naval Precision Strike Carrier Group |Coldstream| Destroyed Taskforce Experience Green (1xp) O/C-Battle dragon class Cruiser: Ri'Aldech |0/0| Royal Hapan Naval Assault Lance [Kinetic Ram] |Kitchener| Task Force Experience: Green (1xp) O/C-Battle dragon class Cruiser: Transvaal |0/19| Royal Hapan Naval Heavy Brawler Escort |Zeeland| Task Force Experience: Green (1xp) O/C-Battle dragon class Cruiser: Victoria |13/35| Rebel Alliance Destroyer Group [Missiles] |One| Destroyed Taskforce Experience Green (1xp) KDY-Victory II-class Cruiser L'Ouverture |0/0| KDY-Victory II-class Cruiser Gerrera |0/0| Rebel Alliance Heavy Brawler Escort |Fidelity| Taskforce Experience Green (1xp) MCS-MC90-class Star Cruiser Fidelity |5/35| Rebel Alliance Precision Strike Carrier Group |Taffy-14| Destroyed Taskforce Experience Green (1xp) KDY-Nebula-class Star Destroyer Benediction |0/0| Mandalorian Neo-Crusader Destroyer Group [Railguns] |Akalenedat| Task Force Experience: Green (1xp) IPM Neo-Kandosii-class Battleship: Xaakzaamheid |13/25| Mandalorian Neo-Crusader Destroyer Group [Missiles] |Bes'bev| Task Force Experience: Green (1xp) IPM Neo-Kandosii-class Battleship: Nat’ah |25/25| Mandalorian Neo-Crusader Light Defensive Escort: Suppressing Fire |Cabur| Withdrawn Task Force Experience: Green (1xp) IPM Fane-of-Swords-class Frigate Vlissingen |3/3| IPM Fane-of-Swords-class Frigate Leeuwarden |0/3| IPM Fane-of-Swords-class Frigate Nassau |0/0| IPM Fane-of-Swords-class Frigate Vrijheid |0/0| HpIPM Jehavey'ir-class Assault Corvette Stavoren |2/1| IPM Jehavey'ir-class Assault Corvette Oosterwijk |0/0| IPM Jehavey'ir-class Assault Corvette Jaarsveld |0/0| ________ "Sir, shuttle launches from Goliath! Headed towards the shipyards." Slaughter's jaw ached as he grit his teeth. Undoubtedly those shuttles were troop transports: lightly armed, loaded to the gills with men and materiel and orders to turn the Fondor shipyards into a battleground. Or worse, the Sith may have made the decision to go scorched-earth and scuttle the entire facility--more likely the latter, given that the multiple entry points of a civilian shipyard made them difficult to reinforce against assault. This was work with which the Admiral was much better acquainted. He had been raised into the Rebel Alliance as an infantryman, and conducting an assault against a strategically important position was one of few operations that he could claim expertise in. It would require heavily-armed, highly-motivated shock troopers that could swarm upon the position from multiple vectors. Close air support from friendly craft--preferably armed gunboats or assault shuttles--was essential to overwhelm the opposition. Minor hull breaches or collateral damage could be repaired at their own expense. Losing the operational capacity of the shipyards, on the other hand, would be a disaster. Fortunately, the Rebel Alliance had recently made liaison with a warband that matched those requirements perfectly. “Comms, signal the Mandos. Tell them that the enemy have begun occupying the shipyards. We require that they begin the assault at first opportunity. They may coordinate directly with Captain Eikh’mir of our marines in the second wave.” The next few seconds were spent barking orders at helm to close further with the wounded Star Dreadnought--to park the damned ship in their fracking hangar if he could manage it were his exact words--but the decision of the Mandalorian Crusaders was an immediate concern. Slaughter was in no position to demand that these allies sell their lives for the benefit of an organization that they had recently been at war against. Faced with a command to make the first wave of assaults on a fortified position, they may well have refused the order. But if their glory-hungry warrior culture was really as pervasive as their war cries and droid-mounts suggested, they might relish the opportunity to fight their opponents face-to-face. They appeared to leap at the opportunity. As the Mon Calamari cruiser descended into the Sith flagship’s keel and the hull of the great ship became his horizon, the Rebel Admiral saw hundreds of pinpricks of light--the strange, multi-directional sublight arrays that the Mandalorians favored--divert their attention from Goliath and race towards the Fondorian shipyards. The middle-aged officer sighed in satisfaction. Those Basilisk droid-mounts and their masters would be devastating in close-quarters. The shipyards might suffer collateral damage, but that was a problem for later. The more immediate concern was finding a way to trap the battered Sith flagship into a duel from which there would be no escape... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt. Slaughter Posted April 18, 2021 Share Posted April 18, 2021 “No, damn you!” Plastic crinkled in protest as Slaughter reached to grip the comms transceiver, as though throttling an inanimate object would somehow speed the destruction of the enemy fleet. A heavy force of bombers had taken advantage of the close quarters between Fidelity and Goliath to infiltrate between their salvos and blast indiscriminately at its keel; with the batteries of the two flagships blazing away at each other in the cramped space, the environment was almost as hostile to the Sith interceptors as it was to a daring squadron of B-Wings. But despite the fires and arcs of lightning that were spreading over the hull of the dreadnought, its engines were intact and it was gaining speed… and vectoring away from the orbital shipyards. Fidelity began to way and present its undamaged starboard broadside for a final volley, but that last dose of hate was intercepted by the shields of its undamaged escort. Only a few minutes later, the firing had died down significantly. Rebel starfighters and Mandalorian Basilisks were continuing to flit around the Fondor shipyards and drive away troop transports, but the great guns had no more targets to engage. Dozens of LAAT/i gunships were en route to the shipyards, and the air in Fidelity’s bridge was filled with the chatter of those transports and translations of the argot favored by the Mandalorians. Half listening to reports as marine squads breached airlocks and the Mandalorians prepared to storm the docking bays, Slaughter muttered a coded transmission burst to his handlers. “Red and Black, this is Fidelity Actual. Sith fleet units have retreated from Fondor orbit. Sith losses are severe. Heavy damage inflicted to Goliath. Allied losses are significant--heavy losses to all starfighter assets. Will detail later. We believe that some of the Sith have holed up in the orbital shipyards to make a final stand. Conjecture: possible sabotage operation underway. Have begun boarding operations to take command. Requesting further orders.” Slaughter made a sharp gesture to his comms officer, signaling to terminate and transmit the encrypted burst. On a less secure local comlink, he addressed the Hapan commander while his staff searched for someone who could speak for the Mandalorian squadron. Hunched over his post, the Admiral growled out his message, trying to keep the exhaustion out of his voice. “Admiral, I want to express my… the gratitude of the Rebel Alliance for your assistance here. The day’s not over, but… these shipyards will be a significant asset in our fight against the Sith Empire. I hope I will someday have an opportunity to convey my gratitude face-to-face. Slaughter, out.” Ending the transmission, Slaughter slowly walked to the edge of the bridge, so close to the canopy that he could feel the tendrils of vacuum seep in through a hairline fracture in a cold grip on his neck. Debris and bodies littered Fondor’s orbit. One of the two VicStars that had been salvaged from Black Sun had been snapped in half and was floating lifelessly in orbit. The other was simply… gone. Benediction, that tough Star Destroyer that supposedly could have dueled Fidelity to a standstill, was a still, fire-licked hulk. Somehow it had yet to break apart--despite all expectations. He could not allow himself to feel exaltation at this minor victory. Not after suffering these losses. Not when Fondor had yet to be liberated from the Sith. Not when he was this tired. “I need caf. Strong. ‘spresso. Stims. Amphetamines, whatever, I don’t care. The day’s not done.” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt. Slaughter Posted April 23, 2021 Share Posted April 23, 2021 “Much better. Credit to the service you are, Lieutenant.” Slaughter rumbled happily to a Gotal who had had the thankless task of bringing a superior officer their coffee. “Navy strength” had been his instructions, and the beverage that he nearly downed in a single gulp was hot and strong enough to strip oxidation from sublight engines. It was the kind of coffee that probably needed to be declared a controlled substance--the kind that made dentists wince--the kind that was fuel to a proud naval officer. The Admiral blinked hard and wiped a dribble of the liquid from the corner of his mouth. “Tal’dira, you have the conn--” “--Aye, sir, I have the conn--” Came the rote response from his Twi’lek executive officer. “I’m moving my command to the shipyards,” Slaughter rumbled on at an almost manic pace as he strode from the bridge, accompanied by a command staff and several armored marines. “Gotta see what’s happening down there. Can’t see spast from the ship. Broadcast standard calls to surrender--” “Sir--” “And see if you can grab someone who can hand those shipyards back over to us.” Another set of technicians joined the command staff as they turned down the warship’s previously pristine corridors and ducked under a collapsed ventilation duct. “Let’m know we won’t be interfering with their internal gov-ment, contracts are whatever we had negotiated before the Sith showed up--” “--Sir--” “And begin rescue and salvage operations. I don’t think we’ll be working the heavy guns anymore. And find out what’s happening aboard Benny--she was undergoing a core meltdown five minutes ago--” “--Sir--” “And… that’s about it.” Slaughter rumbled happily as another aide handed over a fresh tumbler of navy-strength caf. He continued on his manic string of orders as he boarded his personal transport and grunted at the minor effort of the meter-high separation from the hovering larty and the hangar deck. “Remember, play nice with these boys. They’re civilians--keep them happy, paid, and safe, and they might even waive overtime fees, just for us. Irritate them, and they’ll drown us in red tape.” “Aye, sir! And have fun on the ground.” “Oh, yes, yes I will…” The Admiral muttered to himself as the sliding doors slammed shut and the gunship lifted from the deck with a startling jostle. Shifting his weight out of habit, Slaughter stared out of the compartment’s slats as he donned a plastoid breastplate in well-practiced motions. Gerrera and L’Ouverture were probably total losses, floating about space in pieces, but their missile magazines needed to be recovered. Same went for Benediction--the Nebula-class Star Destroyer had gone completely dark and was just drifting at the sedate speed of a few meters per second. It was possible that some mad engineer had ignored orders to evacuate and had instead flooded the ship’s full interior with fire retardants. That was a very brave decision. Stupid, probably suicidal, but they might just save the hull--if only Fondor could muster a few tugs to halt its drifting away from Fondor’s gravity well.... ____ A few minutes later, the selfsame gunship had touched down in a docking bay at the periphery of the Fondor orbital shipyards, and Slaughter hopped down onto the deck and took a deep breath. Blaster oxidation was faint in the air--one of the Mandalorian Basilisks was burning at the edge of the magcon field--and the sounds of blaster fire and shouted orders could still be heard very faintly. The fighting was barely more than two hundred meters away, so close that a determined counterattack could even overrun this location. He took another deep breath. Yes, this was a much more suitable location for his command post than the bridge of a shielded Mon Calamari cruiser, kilometers above the battleground. Two of the technicians opened an armored crate, revealing a portable holoprojector. Slaughter stared into the floating image of the shipyards and the blue and green dots that are infiltrating into the hologram. From here, he could monitor the entire assault and even take command if needed. “Besh company…” He muttered to himself, zooming in on a unit that was within meters of the shipyard’s orbital command center, a square room that could potentially direct the entire installation to burn up in atmosphere and explode in a horrific reactor accident. It was a natural location for the Sith troopers to make a final stand, as its only vulnerability lay in a number of ventilation shafts that were far too small for most sapients to infiltrate. “Delay for a few minutes. Send ‘em some MSEs from the fleet--can modify those buggers to provide cam feed or even…” The stocky man began to chuckle darkly under his breath. The orders were sent out--delay the final assault for a few minutes and let the Sith listen to the recorded offers of terms of surrender. In the meantime, the Rebel marines would prepare a final assault that few units would be able to withstand. 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Sgt. Slaughter Posted May 5, 2021 Share Posted May 5, 2021 Ten minutes passed, in which the few surviving members of the Sith resistance continued to listen to prerecorded messages informing the command center’s defenders of their certain doom; ten minutes as the distant blaster fire grew less frantic. Then two more minutes passed, this time with the pre-recorded message replaced by a message from the Rebel Admiral. “This is Admiral Bruce Slaughter of the Rebel Alliance,” came the dreaded, gravelly voice. Some of the veterans of the Sith Empire might have remembered these ultimatums from events that haunted them on Sullust, Gala, or Coruscant. “Your defenders in orbit have been routed. The remaining Sith on board the shipyards have been captured or killed. Your comrades have fought well--stubbornly--but there is nothing to be gained from further struggle. You have sixty seconds to surrender your arms, save yourselves, sit out the rest of the war. Then… we will see what fate has in store.” During that time, a pair of MSE-7 droids had infiltrated into the crawlspaces surrounding the command center. One of the mousy droids had ventured into the maintenance crawlspaces directly underneath the room, taking hazy pictures of the locations of the Sith defenders with its thermal sensors; it was poor image quality that gave little data regarding their equipment, but nonetheless useful for estimating the strength of the defenders. The second took a somewhat more daring approach. It motored along the air vents that ran along the ceiling, rattling the inexpensive riveting as it went along. A pair of blaster carbines immediately tracked the progress of the muted racket--and a lengthy burst of unaimed fire wrenched a section of the ducts from the ceiling, filling the command center with whistling air and dropping a shrieking mouse droid to the deck. The droid survived for just two more seconds before a second bolt hollowed its skittering chassis and sent shrapnel and sparks flying into the ceiling. That was just long enough for it to take a blurry holo of a mounted E-Web position--and to give the waiting Rebel marines just enough intelligence to launch their assault. The assault was over in thirty seconds. Those thirty seconds were filled with near-constant blaster whines and a steady thundering of grenade detonates. Slaughter just closed his eyes and tried to visualize the carnage from the gentle sound of distant thunder: E-Web spun up, opened fire--multiple concussion grenades--burst of blaster fire--screams--more grenades--another proceeding altercation of blaster fire--a spat of… flechette launcher fire? Stun fire--someone yelling at the limits of human capabilities--another burst of blaster fire--confused shouting--a final grenade detonation. Then silence. A few more seconds passed, then the Admiral’s comlink buzzed with a final message. “Bridge is ours. Stand by for prisoners.” ____ Not very long later, the shuttles began to depart from Fondor’s service. Rather than fleeing from the system, the evacuated drydock workers were returning to work--back to their pre-existing contracts with the Imperial Remnant. Those contracts apparently had made allowances for overtime pay--and with several capital ships drifting as unpowered hulks in decaying orbits around Fondor, those contracts promised a small fortune in extra hours and hazard pay. Still in the shipyard’s docking bay, Admiral Slaughter sat heavily on a crate of munitions. All around him, the Rebel Alliance was attempting to clean up after the battle: packing up unspent munitions, shoving debris out of the paths of the tug corvettes, jury-rigging repairs to shrapnel damage… packing up and returning the dead bodies. Once again, the Admiral felt destroyed, utterly fatigued. Deprived of the adrenaline rush and terror and triumph of face-to-face combat, all he had to indulge in at the end of a battle were casualty reports… and a final transmission to The Red and Black. “Tal’dira--encrypted comms burst to home,” Slaughter held up a comlink to his face and frowned as his hands continued to shake. “Signal: ‘Fondor Shipyards taken. Anticipate will reach full operational capacity without delay.'” And with that transmission sent, the Battle of Fondor could be considered at an end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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