El Spamo nods his head and scratches at his beard

Sounds like ye got yerself a plan there. Ahm gonna assume that I'll be taking command of the fighters that'll be jumpin' into this dragon gullet? I think ahm gonna take point on the whole thing maself. Not such a bad pilot... now lemme see here. I's gots ta take my pilots down this li'l hole yer gonna make in them shields? rotates holo-image I think that the fighters will fly escort for them troopships takin' that li'l command center there. Then, once them sheilds are down, we all just gonna cook in to this here junction and drop some ree-sonaters sputtt par'n me, down in them. Now here's a bit o' sumthin' y'all haven't thought of. See, once them resonator thingys blow, them shields are gonna drop like panties on a cheap whore. Since them shields is down, cuttin' a hole in the hull should be dern easy, 'specially 'round that scaffoldin'. Jest land some more troopships in there. Don't worry about no defensive fire. As I might imagine, y'all gonna have eight souped-up fighters with nuthin' to do inside a big ole ring. Scratches his beard thoughtfully Y'all should find out where them Cantharan bastards is stayin'. I'd like to stuff some foto-keenetic energy up some of their asses.

Steps up to the holoprojecter beside old El Spamo.

Yes, you're correct. You'll be in command of the fighter wing, myself excepted of course. And we might escort the transports to the command nexus- That sounds like a good idea. But as for landing in more transports onto the ring once it's thrusters are burning- Forget it. We don't have the troops to commit to that, and they'll be toast inside there when the backwave from the thrusters hits.

So you want to put a little PK energy into the Cantharans? Well, I'm afraid you're out of luck there.

The display changes to a triangular fighter, with a curved frontal profile. Sundered zooms in on two guns.

As you can see, the Angel class fighters, as I like to call them, don't mount PK-Beams. They mount rotary plasma-sheath cannons- More kick than a PK beamer, not quite as good as Leptons though. Then again, I'm hoping you're not a fan of long range firefights, these aren't up to it.

The Angel fighter itself is designed around a Transtemporal driveshield, here. It has speed and manueverability slightly better than a Sal fighter, better firepower, and, against standard firepower, roughly the same shields. It also has the device we need to trigger that reaction underslung on the belly. But really, it's not up to large-scale sustained combat, unless you're feeling invincible.

Looks at an incoming signal.

I hope you like them, because that's Jralla. She's in position.

------------------
Sundered Angel ,
The One and Only

The 6th Fleet, you say? Now there is some good news! As you recall, when I occupied an Audemedon body for the infiltration mission, the 6th Fleet was mine. I know all of the ships' specs, data, how many there are, and what weaknesses in the fleet can be exploited. As for the ground troops idea, The transports in my fleet carry the Taeskor Battlegroup, the Phylydion elite infiltrator and sniper group. They are 500,000 strong, and with the help of the normal troops, could slip past almost all defenses in the ring. The only problem would be getting them to the places which would need to be neutralized. The transports are carried in the docking bay of my carrier, and are heavily armed and shielded, but would need to find a gap in the shield system to get through. A note, in case you people haven't figured this out already: Phylydion ships are not divisible by standard Ares ship class definitions. My carrier, for example, is the size of a Gateship, and can carry dozens and dozens of fighters as well as support craft and dropships in its bays. Our ship class definitions are similar to those of Star Wars ship classes.

------------------
Commander Cicion, commander of Phylydion Primary Armada

"Never tell me the odds!"
-Han Solo

Well I guess the only thing left to do is reshape the battle plan to compensate for the extra fleets. Unfortunately we have no idea how many Cantharan ships will be there or where. But considering our technological advantage they shouldn't be too much of a problem, except for that damn gateship. Supposedly it's tougher than the last one, with something similar to the T-space bolt rod.

And Cicion, your plan is great expect for the transports. But if they can avoid the death blossom we should be pretty well set. Since if you know the Aud. 6th fleet so well I believe it's only fitting that you coordinate the attack on them.

------------------
" Throught their history, these 'unenlightened' beings have continually organized to opposed the injustices and attrocities committed by their bretheran in power. We, as the prophets, would do well to learn from these humans."
-Final statement of Salrilian reformist Sirthis before his execution.

We have distraction planned to prevent the death blossom. We have developed precision jumpgates big enough to use for EVATs, and can send troops directly into the ring. If they can disrupt contol long enough for the Singularity to shoot, we can send in some transports.
Oh, here are some stealth feilds for the transports, Cicion.
And Spammo, would you like to send some fighters this way?
We can only get 3 fighters, as the initiator coils will blow after 253 more uses, and we'd need 250 soldiers to disrupt the primary gunnery command room.
Of course, there have been one or 2 failures at bad times, but I think it will be able to put them in.

------------------
Commander-in-Chief of the Nijayias Interstellar Navy.

El Spamo nods in Darkk's direction
Ya, I think ah can spare a coupla fighters to support yer troops. Eight of 'em might get in the way when we is gonna be flyin through the li'l holes in them shields, and five is jest the size of them squadrons we flew back at the academy. Now here's how ahm gonna run our little strike on them fusion genraters. Here I'll have the first three fighters run strafin' runs on the scaffoldin'. Sumthin' I'd like to ask of ya there Sundered Angel, outfit a couple of them fighters with some nice ole conventional warheads. Sumthin' that'll make a nice big hole in the side of that ring. Then us last two will come along an' drop our present down the chute. Plus the other three that made the hole can come around again for another pass. Just in case.

For the flight crew, It'll be Meself, Monk and Clampton leadin' the strike on the fusion array with a couple of other pilots you'll pick out. Make sure they're good, I don't want sum rookie hotshot screwin' it all up. Git some experience behind thet wheel. As fer those three fighters yer insertin' with them troops, stick some extra ammo pods on them. They'll need it, with all that stuff to shoot up inside the ring. And boy will they have fun. Like shootin' fish in a barrel.
El Spamo grins, belches and looks around for approval

------------------
-Semper ubi sub ubi-

Nice idea Spammo.
I've obtained permission to use the new heavy burst air support drones, flying robots that fold into packages about the size of a human forearm. They have a guns based on our infantry rifle, as well as a nifty trick - burst lepton capacaters. These are charged at a space station or groundside facility, then the stored energy can be released as the standard lepton beam. The best metaphore is the old cliche about bottle up and selling lepton beams.
They'll take a great deal of fire from the pilots I selected. Don't worry about my selections, they each have over 256 hours combat flying (dang is that a lot; these guys are good).
Each soldier will carry 4 drones, making a total of 3000 lepton beam shots, which should at least be enough to get rid of any fighters and air defenses inside (I doubt the sals expected enemy starfighters in their ring). Don't worry Sargatanus, the scans we made during our flyby show everything - we even have the oracular net beat when it comes to combat sensors. Unfortunantly, no thermal exahaust ports found :frown:
I've met with the crew of the Singularity and they say they can pull it off.
Ok, my plan for the breach opening:
1. The precision jumpgate sends in elite troops and fighters. Ring thrown into chaos.
2. Elite troops blow linkages from primary gunnery contol to main computer.
3. Elite troops and fighters damage computer area as much as possible.
4. Singularity enters, blows hole in ring.
5. Troopships containing elite Nijayias and Phylydion troops invade ring.
6. Sals must surrender.

Of course, it has a few bugs, and someone else might have a better one, but I think we should all consider this well.

------------------
Commander-in-Chief of the Nijayias Interstellar Navy.

Sundered Angel rolls his eyes :rolleyes:

Darkk, you seem to have gotten a few things confused (Sargantanus fixed the final battle plan a little back and said don't interfere- Remember).

Basically, even 500'000 of your crack troops won't be able to take that ring as it stands currently, compact lepton blasters or no. The sheer scale of this ring, which I think you should grasp, makes it impossible- At this point in time.

Therefore, our ground troops have only one purpose: To disrupt their anti-fighter defenses. The fighters fly into the Ring here, set off the reaction, and we flee. The ring's thrusters fire, hit the shields, and irradiate the Ring. THEN we can take it over at our leisure. Therefore, I think our plan of battle should be: (BTW, this might be the mission order too)

1. Research vessels investigate the hyperspace anomalies- look for an escape
route.
2. Main fleet moves in, causing the enemy armadas to intercept them.
3. Darkk's ship moves in with those 250 troops and our elite fighters. Troops
teleport into the ring-defense node, and cause chaos.
4. The fleets engage in a full-scale assault against the enemy armada.
5. The Angel Fighters move in, trigger the reaction, and we get out- fast.
6. Ring is irradiated, any remaining enemy ships scattered and quickly
destroyed.
7. The Salrillians Surrender.

Everyone got that firm in their heads? Because it's just about time...
(Sargantanus: I believe that's the way you want it, and since you're making the plug, make any last minute amendments and we'll figure how it was resolved.)

------------------
Sundered Angel ,
The One and Only

That's pretty much it, except for what happenes after we disable the ring. Bare in mind that we will still be dealing with a lot of ships. Also, the ring might still be able to be controled from Salril Prime, and could still use the Death Blossom and Plasma stream, but it wouldn't be very well coordinated. So far though, this would be the biggest blow the Salrilians could possibely get, especially if either of their two gateships are there (I've got a really cool sprite for the Salrilian Gateship). And if we need to retreat after we disable the ring, we will. No big deal. The sals will be trying to recover from this for a long time: they would have lost a signifigant amount of ships, their best fleet commander (two best if I have my way with Trisar), and the Oracular Net would have lost almost all credibility, which would force the GOC to reboot and possibely reconfigure the system, thus erasing or taming the budding consciousness. It would also strike a nerve with a decent portion of the Sals' client races and most likely spur on revolts for which the Sals would not be in much of a position to deal with. But don't get me wrong, this is not by any means going to be a walk in the park. In fact, at best our odds of success as the situation stands are only 55%. But at least it's in our favor. So all we do is wait for the junction and we can begin. Questions?

(P.S. Hey Sundered Angel, did you get my E-mail? I'm not sure if I got the address right. But let me know soon so I don't have to stew over this.)

------------------
" Throught their history, these 'unenlightened' beings have continually organized to opposed the injustices and attrocities committed by their bretheran in power. We, as the prophets, would do well to learn from these humans."
-Final statement of Salrilian reformist Sirthis before his execution.

The 500,000 soldiers you mentioned are the Traeskor Battlegroup, and they are MINE, not Darkk's. Their mission isn't to take over the whole ring, it is to disable the key points inside. Jralla will make sure they get in quickly.

------------------
Commander Cicion, commander of Phylydion Primary Armada

"Never tell me the odds!"
-Han Solo

Sorry for the mix-up Admiral Cicion, but the point stands. The troops are surplus to requirements. Basically, you could in theory land the troops and destroy vital installations, but it won't matter in the long run because they'll be destroyed anyway by the backlash from the thruster/shield discharge.

Save your troops for a little later, because then we WILL be able to take that thing over with a mere 500'000 - Noone will be left to fight us.

Now, the initial stages of the plan are underway. Research vessels have been detached, and the fleets should be ready to move.

(Sargantanus: I think it's time for you to disclose the ending.)

------------------
Sundered Angel ,
The One and Only

COMMANDER Cicion. Just call me Traek if you're being informal.

------------------
Commander Cicion, commander of Phylydion Primary Armada

"Never tell me the odds!"
-Han Solo

Very well, Traek it is.

Though being the commander of an armada would place you on par with the admirals, I have to say...

------------------
Sundered Angel ,
The One and Only

Oh, just in case the fighters miss on the first pass, we fitted the Singularity with a special negative gravatational sheild - total invincability for short periods. If necissary, it can open breaches for the fighters. The ring cannot kill it with any weapon (even the black hole gun) while the sheild is up, and I know all the weapons. But the sheild cannot be sustained for more than 10 minutes, so if the Singularity is needed, we will have to call it in.

------------------
Commander-in-Chief of the Nijayias Interstellar Navy.

Ye won't have ta worry 'bout yer perty little Singularity. My fighters won't miss. It'll be as easy as stealin' candy from a baby. 'Nuthin to it.

------------------
-Semper ubi sub ubi-

Good. The shield can only be used once per mission, so I am glad.
PS - we found the shield in one of the hyperspace anomolies. It was in (you will not believe this) a cardboard box! On the box was written "To keep the universe safe, boxes like this have been scattered containing our most powerful technology. If they are found, may they be used for justice." in the language of "The Seven", (aliens? deities? they never said) who gave us our powers and system of government a long time ago. Unfortunantly, we have only explored 3 anomolies and found Sal fleets in 2 others. The Sal fleets were running on automatic, all lifeforms destroyed by intense ratiation. We figure at least 2/3 of the anomolies are boobytraps of some sort. I don't think we have time to explore the rest, the Sals have a new MTBS in production, and I believe that they will launch an attack to prevent us from destroying the ring at an unknown time in the near future.
<aside. since we are making this into a plug, it must end happy. Game Design Rule #1, according to gaming god Cliff Bleszinski.>
Another thing. I believe I should lead the diversion, as the ON has me at #1 on its "people to watch out for" list (Cicion is a close second, the deciding factor being that he hasn't attacked them as much). The Sals will concentrate on where I am, leaving the ring less reinforced.

------------------
Commander-in-Chief of the Nijayias Interstellar Navy.

(This message has been edited by Fleet Admiral Darkk (edited 03-12-2000).)

DANGIT!!!!!! shouts out The Anonymous scientist

CARDBOARD BOXES LEFT-OVERS OF WEAPONS SUPPLY DRIFTING IN HYPERSPACE MAKING ANOMALIES DAMN!! Not many times I´ve been wrong about something, but I guess that there´s always a second time. :redface:

And for that I even bothered to speak out loud. BUT MARK MY WORDS: There are Sal devices scattered throughout our galaxy. And my shrink just told me that I am a bit paranoid (maybe because of my third degree contact IT'S TRUE ).

Skip this unless you wan't to learn something about The Anon

Well anyway can´t win every time. Hmmhh I should have checked it out sooner with my MIGHTY enchanced fleet of research vessels though it only consists of ten RV and four captured sal Gunships and a fleet of modified defender drones a pocket gateship an inhibitor ship, illegal by the way two Lightning class schooners and I'm proud of them am I drifting oh sorry I´ll go now AND DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT ASKING ME TO GIVE AWAY MY SHIPS sorry am I talking too much well sorry about that too sorry for bothering you all sorrrry I'm really sorry someone kindly kicked me to go OUCH BASTARD I'm by the way a commander and an expert in aud and sal exology hyperspace ships weapons explosives I by the way invented FX28-4 explosive Again someone kindly kicks me ALLRIGHT THEN!!

Mumbles something about the "oracular implant needing some upgrading" and that "the sals and auds who modified me must be laughing their heads off if they´d hear this hmm auds can´t laugh Maybe the 100 years I spent in cryo stasis corrupted my receiver's computer but that would be my brain and they downloaded all their data in me to test humans I´ll have to check that out but still how could I be wrong well I was supposed to be destroyed but thankfully those Ares guys rescued me By the way does anyone think that I might be bit off the wall?!? Gee, there's so many things to do and blah blah blah " as he walks away

*Stops at the door and shouts before leaving: Ill BE BACK, AND I WONT BE WRONG NEXT TIME BELIEVE ME!! :mad: *
I´ll just have to upgrade my secret oracular network receiver implant, my brain that is and no one knows about it but me Did I say that out loud?!?!?
Starts beeping like an aud and leaves
HEY!! STOP STARING HASN'T ANY OF YOU SEEN A CYBORG BEFORE An Aud/Human cyborg that is!?!?! Don't worry I'm not assimilated or am I???

Hmm back to reality checked reality mode on in T-10 9 8 2 1 reality mode on have a nice day

The Smilie Man

------------------
Strange just a moment ago I was flying through a dense asteroid field but now I feel quite cold And just what happened to my
H-Cruiser?!?

Umm Yeah I'm a genetically enhanced human with aud. cybernetics. Was that supposed to be satyrical?

------------------
" Throught their history, these 'unenlightened' beings have continually organized to opposed the injustices and attrocities committed by their bretheran in power. We, as the prophets, would do well to learn from these humans."
-Final statement of Salrilian reformist Sirthis before his execution.

Although my conclusions about the anomolies might be wrong. I have very little data...

------------------
Commander-in-Chief of the Nijayias Interstellar Navy.

What part of "no more fleets in this" did you not understand? In fact, have you even read this entire topic? Because if you haven't, then you have no idea what's going on.

------------------
" Throught their history, these 'unenlightened' beings have continually organized to opposed the injustices and attrocities committed by their bretheran in power. We, as the prophets, would do well to learn from these humans."
-Final statement of Salrilian reformist Sirthis before his execution.