Tiamat
{From: High Judicator Dacona}
{To: Kayan Union}
I am in your debt greatly for your defence. We truly do not have many - or any - ships left to defend our space. May the Galactic Community prosper for all eternity, and may our fleets be successful in defeating our enemies. Indeed, I assure you, when the year is out, the Akrahd threat shall be no more, and the Ediens shall be but a pale shadow of a pale shadow, awaiting as the might of the Galactic Community passes final judgement upon them.
Now, if you'll excuse me, our actions against Gamaera must continue. They have not chased our Izirions, so we can only assume they reinforced the area. We will raid again, however.
- High Judicator Dacona
{end transmission}
Outpost Derash
Believing that the Gamerans would have increased concentration, the Izirions made a second raid, after quickly changing rearming themselves, half with new hyper-velocity rockets., and the other half still the deadly anti-fighter rockets.
When the ships, only just under 70,000, entered Outpost Derash, the four stations were quickly noted, and the Izirions, under one command, simple broke into two fleets and flew the other way. The station's railguns were quickly out of range, and no missiles got through from just four stations, with 210,000 kyhdron beamers working entirely to stop missiles (a sad use, granted, but a necessary one.)
And then the hyper-velocity rockets saw their first use, and the Gamerans learnt a very sharp lesson in numbers. It was something along the lines of "4 is a bit less than 70,000." The Izirions all fired one hyper-velocity rocket, at a different station. 17,500 rockets streaked towards each station. Too fast and too protected for most point defence systems, and powerful besides, the rockets annihilated the stations with frightening ease. It would be said it was a waste of ammunition.
After all, each station was hit with 700,000 shield damage (OOC: EVO scale), ten to a hundred times more shields than they had. It was a great overkill, but it proved their point. The Gamaeran's efforts had been futile.
A second or two later, another wave of hyper-velocity rockets flew, dealing 2,100,000 shield damage amongst many targets, and then a third and final wave, before the Izirions leapt forward into high speed, deploying anti-fighter rockets which slaughtered any Akrahd fighters.
The Izirions fought harder this time, for several minutes, and some of their number was lost. The destruction the Gamearan fleet had felt was unholy. 4000 ships had been lost in the first raid, of 30,000, and 8000 more were destroyed now before the Izirions turned and left to S-1293.
They arrived there, and made use of an ammunition store on a desolate planet, the supply ships that had come now gone. Rearming with three hyper-velocity rockets and three anti-fighter rockets per Izirion, they were ready for another conflict.
Ki'Ran
Ki'Ran had taken similar preparations, and the result was also similar, although the Izirions here were much more aggressive. They did not leave before the Gamaeran fleet could regroup, nor did they waste hy-vel rockets on destroying the stations. Their rockets wasted the stations from out of its range, and several times more fell upon their fleet and their planet - the latter striking high energy emitting zones, reactors, military bases and the like, accurately.
The Izirion's armanent of three kyhdron beamers gave them a muscle that was quite unexpected, and between dampeners, layers and powerful shielding, they were tough cookies. They were also fast, and whenever they left range of primary fire, their beamers turned to point defence. It was almost too easy. Weaving in and out of the Gamaeran fleet, the Izirions took one target at a time, hitting in groups, going for the largest ships down.
15,000 Izirions were lost in the opening but decisive melee, and half the Gamaeran's number, another 15,000, lay in wrecks.
Hokemnor
While the Gamaerans were preparing or had prepared for the raids upon Ki'Ran and Outpost Derash, a third prong struck, another 70,000 or so Izirions, where they had been quite unexpected. They only made the openings of a raid, and all hy-vel rockets, all 210,000 of them, were launched at enemy warships, while 210,000 more anti-fighter rockets were fired at closer range at Gamaera fighters. 4000 Gamaeran ships were lost, and the Izirions were gone quickly.
S-2334
Eight armadas, totalling 400,000 ships of Zidagar and Igadzra, were now waiting in S-2334, for the Gamaera's reaction to the raids. When word came back from Ki'Ran and Outpost Derash that Gamaera had not brought in more ships, or moved to chase them, Dacona, Lariat and Idune had to consider the situation. Their fleet was enough to tear through Gamaera's systems anyway, but the extra advantage would have been helpful. The Ki'Ran raiders were making a fullscale assualt, and there was no doubting that they would be victorious. Hokemnor and Outpost Derash had both been raided again heavily, losing 13,000 ships between them. Everything was under control.
Dacona and Idune eventually voted against Lariat, who wanted them to strike now. The fleet thus remained in S-2334 for the moment, daring a Gamaeran fleet to appear. If they knew they were there. Meanwhile, Lariat sent a message to Var'Chen'Ra. The Gamaerans were mistaken if they thought all cards had been played already.
Hokemrahi
Hokemrahi was a border system far away from former Strand League space, out of the line of fire, so to speak. It was quite unexpected, therefore, when a fourth prong struck the system, stronger than all of the Izirions put together.
1500 Igazradas, and nothing else. It was horrifying, seeing so many of such a large, powerful ship. As the Igazrada upgrade program was going ahead already, it was well known that this would be one of the last demonstrations of the particle railgun, and Scarab discs. Tens or hundreds of thousands of Scarab discs were launched, seeking heavy targets and devastating them. The Igazradas formed their own reef, that ancient tactic which said quite clearly; "come closer and die", with an added hint of ; "stay back and you'll die anyway."
Railguns fired even as the Igazradas moved backwards, while facing forwards, to drift away from their opponents - but still in range for their railguns and discs, always in range. Any attempts to charge the reef would be foolish. Railguns, discs, and finally the power of duelbeam.
Not only that, but some railguns were not hitting the ships even as the battle progressed, but the planet itself, destroying cities and military complexes.
In a famous IGNA opening, 10,000 of 25,000 or so ships were destroyed, leaving the rest to make their move.
Somewhere in the Milky Way
The battlegroup continued through the Milky Way, and would arrive in Horosk space within five weeks. Hopefully, they would not be too late. Also, another contingent of three thousand Igazradas had been sent after their heels, and more would follow. Even so, the attack was verging on being purely suicidal. Outnumbered and possibly outclassed still, they would still do their upmost. Much of the faith they retained went with the IXD.
Cintrial
Finally, the hyper-velocity rocket and P-rail had been completed. Great cheers had gone up in the science department, quite literally, as both were annoying and tiring projects that had taken far too much of their time to complete. All had gone without enough sleep for much of the time, and none had slept less than the leaders of the operations.
Slightly more powerful than the anti-fighter rocket, but without the blast radius, hyper-velocity rockets had a speed that was almost unbelievable, and as such an extraordinarily impressive range. They would replace SAIs or Scarab discs, capable of delivering their warhead more effectively and faster than either. They were not, in fact, any more powerful than Scarab discs, but a hyper-velocity rocket could not have its none existant guiding systems jammed, and with its speed and accuracy, it could almost hit a fighter squarely at the very limits of its range, before the fighter could move. Against warships, there would be no problem at all.
To accompany the hyper-velocity rocket was its doubtless superior - the P-Rail. An upgraded version of the particle railgun, using two pairs of rails, which would alternate to help prevent degeneration of the rails. The speed of the railgun was enhanced, resulting in an increase in damage which particularly effected mass damage. The P-Rail was also mounted as a proper turreted platform, with a track that ran around the ship, and a fast-tracking turret. With a 360ş by 360ş angle of attack, it was greatly improved over the original particle railgun.
Now, the new designs would be implemented on the Igazrada and Izar, including a minor systems upgrade in other areas.
*Technology
Particle Railgun Upgrade / P-Rail: 0/10
Izar Upgrade: 6/6
Igazrada Upgrade: 8/9
*Naval Stats
ZSN: 268,000
IGNA: 268,000
IXD: 50,000
ZEN: 210,000
(Special: 10,500 Igazradas)
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-Lyat Esponer Corsair