Apple Core,
I'm moderator, not you. Let me resolve these things.
Ah-and you're supposed to actually write. You can move more systems than just one at a time, anyway, so I suggest you do so. Even a brief "My guy presses the jump button" story (well, bit longer than that) is better than nothing.
-Bob
After several years of tedious cargo hauling, Apache had finally saved up enough credits to purchase his own fleet, and today was the day to begin his new occupation. Now, as a mercenary and pirate hunter, he went to the shipyard to order his fleet.
Fleets:
Assault Fleet AF-1 ||
A.D.S. Protector (Kestral)
A.D.S. Deterrent (Kestral)
A.D.S. Shield (Kestral)
A.D.S. Thunder (Corvette)
A.D.S. Hammer (Corvette)
A.D.S. Chimera (Corvette)
A.D.S. Scythe (Corvette)
A.D.S. FireSword (Corvette)
Support Fleet SF-1 ||
A.D.S. Blaze (Rapier)
A.D.S. Eliminator (Rapier)
A.D.S. Dagger (Rapier)
A.D.S. Shadow (Rapier)
Auxiliary Support Fleet ASF-1 ||
A.D.S. ASF-1-A (Argosy)
A.D.S. ASF-1-B (Argosy)
Fleet Orders:
Fleets AF-1 & SF-1 are to stay in the Zaxted system until ordered to leave. Fleet ASF-1 shall be sent to Satori by shortest route to dock and await further orders.
That is all.
30,000,000(3 Kestrals)+12,500,000(5 Corvettes)+6,000,000(5 Rapiers)+1,500,000(2 Argosies)=50,000,000 credits (0 remaining)
(COMMUNIQUE)
{!- frequency="59.365" channel="24zV" power_setting="LONGRANGE" scramble_code="8h^&d"}
(TO) Speaker Emaniac (/TO)
(FROM) Apache, Commander of AF-1 (/TO)
(SUBJECT) Gun for Hire (/SUBJECT)
(CONTENT)
As the Commander of AF-1 and SF-1, I would like to request information about assisting your cause. Also, if I decide to ally with you, we must discuss my compensation on a more secure channel.
(/CONTENT)
(/COMMUNIQUE)
Mack sat in his office with his lights out, looking at the map of the galaxy that he'd installed as his ceiling.
It rotated slowly, with blinking lines of color linking star systems, whose allegiance was delineated by one of several colors: blue, for the loyalist systems of the Confederation, red, for the Rebel butchers, green, for the neutral systems, and white, for the pirates.
He sighed. It had been a long war so far, and his spies said it would be heating up quickly.
I'd better see this through to the end , he thought.
With the flick of a switch, the galaxy faded away, the lights came back up, and Mack called one of his aides into the office.
"Sir."
"Fyorin, get me the latest figures for the resupply of the fleet."
"Right away, sir."
Mack leaned back in his chair, satisfied with the order of the universe.
...millions of miles away, vIsitor was also contemplating the order of the universe. But instead of being entirely content with it, he was pondering how to alter it to his liking.
"Computer, send for Mr. Coel please" he stated calmly to the room. A few minutes later he got results. "You wanted to see me, Guildmaster?" Coel said, with a hidden tone of worry. "Yes, Coel. I have a task that needs doing." came a cool reply. "A--a task, sir?" Coel stammered. "Don't worry, its nothing that will put you in harm's way, at least not more than the norm around here." vIsitor paused, "I need you to organise a large group of pilots, we will be sending our scoutships out to keep tabs on our neighbors. I wan't you to find enough pirates here, good enough for the job." Coel hesitated, then spoke again, obviously nervously, "I--I had been w--wondering why y--you had-d ordered so m-many of those frail craft--t...I g--guess t--that explains it, h-huh?" All he was met with was an icy stare, silence, then the Guildmaster spoke once more "I will debrief you on the target locations after you assemble the pilots. Now go." Without a word, Coel left the office, to do exactly as his Guildmaster instructed.
Lord Swithich's ship slips back into the Evildrome system unnoticed. He is back from his exile in the bowels of Liberty Station, pinned there by the Confederates last time he took them on in a straight fleet to fleet attack. His skin now turned old and his eyes wrinkled hide his still beaming mind and clear objective...to conquer the universe once and for all.
He smiles as his Generals welcome him back to his mighty Lair and his Kestral Battleship...the E.S.S. Ciltron. Once again, he will be mighty.
This post has been edited by Swithich : 10 October 2005 - 09:55 PM
Eegras overlooks his prototype manta. His top engeneers are working away at adding 2 more swivel cannons. He taps his electronic clipboard and brings up a FTL hypermessage.
(MESSAGE)
(Encryption level: 9d9-34828; Key: mlpnkobjivhucgyxftzdrseawq)
(To:) emaniac
(From:) Eegras
(Subject:) New tech
(BODY)
Greetings commander. I am very close to having an ecconomical way of adding to the mantas attack power. Reply for details.
(/BODY)
(/MESSAGE)
Aboard the Doomblade, Apple Cרre looks over his fleet's stockpiles. Food and fuel were getting dangerously low-fuel low enough that going into battle risked the ships coming to a grinding halt while executing high-powered maneuvers. All fo the crew were getting jumpy.
Apple Cרre punched the comm panel in his desk. "Set course for New Istanbul, Yemuro. Go through the Zaphod system. Relay the new course to the rest of the fleet. And set down on Beeblebrox if necessary."
This post has been edited by The Apple Cרre : 24 October 2005 - 12:14 AM
Dררmblade coasted into orbit around New Istanbul with a very slow fleet behind it. The Apple Cרre squinted at the poorly backlit main screen.
"Readouts on the scoutships."
The science officer replied, "We can send all of them down in a controlled descent. I'm just not sure we can get them back in time with everything we need. They will need to return by tomorrow if we're going to resupply in time. If we don't, the atmosphere awaits."
"Fire all rocket weapons. Use the recoil to boost our orbits. Just don't hit anybody."
"That should probably buy us another hour."
"Do it. I hope we don't need it. Transmit shopping lists to the scoutships. See about weapons. And hope that some annoying pirate clipper pilot doesn't show up."
The Apple Cרre's armrest console buzzed. "Take over for about five minutes," he said as he walked to his quarters. After identifying by fingerprint, the following message appeared on the screen.
(Memo)
(From: The Powers that Be (Storm))
(Subject: Nothing happening)
The Apple Cרre said:
I'll take over emainac's fleets temporarily if it comes down to that.
§carlet §torm said:
You have my permission....
(End)
The Apple Cרre reads this three more times in his quarters on the Dררmblade. Command of the Rebel fleets? That could be useful. Especially since there was one in orbit around New Istanbul.
He tapped his console. "Comm the Rebel flagship and tell them that their new fleet commander is in desperate need of a refuel and a rearm, but no repairs. Tell them to fuel the fleet up and prepare to jump, because something is finally happening. Comm Rebel High Command and schedule a fast resupply for the fleet in the Risa system. Send the Persephone fleet to Turin and Alkaid patrol to Beeblebrox. Move Atropos patrol to Orion. R&D to fit Risa's squadron-and-one Mantas for laser upgrade tests. We're going to need them before long."
He may only be Rebel High Command for a while, but it certainly will be a while to remember. And this time, §carlet §torm is wielding the heavy hull.
Note to Confed command nfreader : do something about the Core systems, or Capella is going to get bulldozed with no losses. Either that, or Storm will have to take over and order exactly the wrong fleets for your needs and tactics.
Note to Rebel Southern Commandder Jimbob : do something about the Southern systems by two days from now or I'll have to make another fleet, which Southern Command won't like much because I allocated their budget and placed their fleets the wrong way.
If it isn't done by the end of the month, can the systems be fair game?
At last, nearly all of the scoutships were in position. Of the 75 that originally set out, only 12 had been lost to patrols--Mr. Coel had picked his pilots well. Expertly dodging the sensor nets, the pirates scattered their frail reconnaissance craft in all the key locations: NGC-6484, Darven, Farazon, Altair, Curzon, Risa...and now the last 9 scouts entered Yemuro. Immediately, the pilots realized that something was amiss...
"Well, shiver me timbers! I think we've come to our target on a bad day boys."
"How so, cap'n?"
"Look at thar yonder fleet! Do those sort of craft look like militia to you ye landlubber?"
"N-No sir!"
"We got a case of mercenaries on our hands and all we have is 9 scoutships! nine... _ scoutships!!!_ How in the guildmaster's name are we supposed to fight seasoned mercenary veterans in these tin cans?!"
"We...Don't?"
"As much as I hate to say it, you're right. We'll have to keep our distance, act casual, and in the meantime, put these things to use and get us some recon scans on our would-be foes."
-----
Back at Pirate's Cove...
Guildmaster vIsitor was preparing to put the station's large flotilla of cargo craft to use. What he planned was controversial at best, and downright insane at worst...but his mind was dead set on achieving his aims. Pirate's cove would be abandoned. Everything that wasn't bolted down would be stripped and loaded onto the transports, and when the time was right pirates, ships, booty and all would head out and take over Blackthorn station by force. Pirate's cove would remain operational, if only just barely, until the operation finally commenced, and would continue to produce ships and supplies until then. But once they settled at Blackthorn, they would leave Pirates Cove for good. Of course, this was only the beginning.(I)
Aboard the Doomblade, the recently heavily tuned passive sensors read the presence of nine scoutships at the edge of the system. They wouldn't have registered had they not scanned Graphite Strike Force three times. One active sweep revealed that they were probably "missing, presumed stolen". Pinging the ID chip returned nothing, which meant that these nine darts were outlaws of some sort. Probably pirates. Smugglers tend not to fly in groups of nine.
"Resupply status?" inquired The Apple Cřre.
"Doomblade has full fuel supply and missile count. Javelins are back to normal. They couldn't fit the rockets into the scoutships with everything else."
"Should be enough for those nine darts out there. Power up the clippers and form them on our wing. Wait... get the Squadron-and-one from the Risa system to come here upon completion of experimental refit. Maintain our orbit and act like nothing is wrong. Move the Orion/Atropos patrols to Atropos. Advise Eegras to put something in Apollo. We've had reports of at least one hijacked Kestrel recently-and nobody does that idly. I think the pirates are getting restless, and I don't want them to strike here. Graphite Strike Force will stay here and act ignorant while the experimental Mantas get here. And the Powers that Be seem to not want us to do anything while I command the Rebel fleets... but we still get to point and laugh when they get cut to shreds."
"And if they make a move to get out of here, their sorry afterburners have a date with thirty normal Mantas. Leave the Rebel fleet on the other side of New Istanbul. And tune our ECMs so we can cover the arrival of that Manta squad."
Moments later, hyperwave transmissions were received from Risa:
"They got nine scoutships in Risa. Squad that looks exactly like ours. Dead transponders, scans, the whole bit. And a similar bunch passed through in our direction. I think that we have another bunch of pirates."
"Yep. Definitely something up. The experimental Mantas are to engage. Lasers only, unless the upgrades don't work out, or if they look like they're going to turn and run. In the mean time, bring that fleet out from behind New Istanbul. Blast the ones in this system to dust. And I want to see this firepower at work."
Minutes later, five Rebel cruisers, ten Rebel destroyers, and fifty Rebel Mantas screamed over New Istanbul's horizon. Two missiles from every Rebel ship ground the Pirate scout fleet to powder.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In the Risa system, the experimentally modified Mantas scream toward the unsuspecting scoutships...
(outside of the story)
I had overlooked emaniac moving his fleet to Yemuro until about four days ago. Five Cruisers, ten Destroyers, thirty Mantas. There is a similar one in the RIsa system, plus another 13 Mantas. If you want, I'll post a map with fleet locations, updated... as often as I can. And keep in mind your two-jump scanning radius when reading the map.
This post has been edited by The Apple Cřre : 30 October 2005 - 06:43 PM
Yemuro:
The group's 'rookie' was the sole survivor, and even then just barely. The Rebels had struck without warning, and with rebel fire support. The team leader was the first to go, he never got off a shot, and rookie's other 7 wingmates were blown to atoms by repeated missle blasts. By sheer dumb luck the rather inexperienced pilot managed to mostly save the craft--but the end result left it engineless, weaponless, and without life support. Before he ran out of oxygen, his final acts were to set the sensors on automatic and send out a brief warning to the other reconnaissance groups. "Discovered...Team lost...heavy damage...won't last...rebels...Don't know our mission...yet..."
----
Risa:
Naturally, the recon wing in Risa put 2 and 2 together when they detected a wing of mantas comming their way, along with a distorted distress signal from Yemuro. The rebels knew they were there, even if they didn't know what tthey were up to, and we going to mop the interstellar floor with their hulls.
"All groups, scatter formation! Strength in numbers is overrated in these things, split up and once you find a safe spot from patrols stay put! From now on, all inter-fleet transmissions will be transmitted via-tightbeam message, is that clear?"
"Aye, sir!"
"This just isn't my day"
This post has been edited by ~vIsitor~ : 30 October 2005 - 06:44 PM
Mack looked at his fleet deployments, and made a notation onto his screen:
Move Task Force Beta into harrass the Pelagon system
Task Force Beta consists of:
5 Confed Cruisers
12 Confed Frigates
25 Confed Gunboats
20 Confed Patrol Ships
Task Force Alpha shall remain in-system to protect the Confederation outpost there.
He smiled, and got back to work.
This post has been edited by Mackilroy : 29 October 2005 - 12:31 PM
Mod: §torm is not the name. Use the right name for the right circumstances.
The other Rebel systems are automatically under your control. The Confed Core is under the command of anyone who has a strong enough will to take command of it.
However, you may not use your merc fleet-now that you control the Rebellion, that's it. Rebels only.
I'm not aware off-hand who controls the scoutships, but either way you can't effortlessly blow them away.
----
Maximus Insurrectum: Sans Ordo
The glorious Confederation Admiral Bob finished his paperwork for the day and started to upload his fleet construction concepts.
Razgriz Flight
Confederate Heavy Cruiser (CHC): 10x (160m)
Confederate Frigate (CFrig): 40x (100m)
----------------------------------------
Razgriz: 260,000,000 CR.
Fighter Wing "Thor's Hammer" Legion
Allocated budget: 240,000,000
Divided by two:
125,000,000 - Fighter Defense Wing
125,000,000 - Long range bomber fleet
Confederate Patrol Ship (CPS): 240x (120,000,000)
Confederate Gunboat (CGB): 160x (120,000,000)
----------------------------------------
Thor's Hammer Sub-total: 240,000,000 CR.
Grand total: 500,000,000
These were, of course, for the Confederation Core Worlds. His Third Fleet, the force directly under his command, was already stationed at Rigel.
(Sans story afterwards, for now.)
Yemuro system:
The Rebel fleet gave the debris a full scan. Nothing in there. Not even an identifying mark.
Risa system:
The Pirate scoutships scattered. Squadron-and-one Mantas scattered with them. Five scoutships get the opportunity to duel. Four are left with a two-on-one battle. One of the Manta pilots got overzealous and squeezed his trigger at extreme distance. The numerous shots dissipated harmlessly without even draining the shields, but the scoutship pilot reflexively cornered the stick.
On the Task Force Leader's bridge, they were listening in on the pirates' intership chatter. "What the... this is even less of a fair fight than we thought! Mantas just don't have that kind of firepower!"
Outside the story: My merc fleet has its hands tied (save for possible movement out of the way of an armada) until somebody takes the Rebel fleets out of my hands.
This post has been edited by The Apple Cřre : 30 October 2005 - 06:44 PM
Admiral Ace Rimmer, a mercenary who had been hired to replace the MIA Administrator JimBob, looked at the Intelligence reports that were displayed on the moniter in his cabin on board his flagship, Red Dwarf. According to them, the Confederates were getting ready for another assault. He hoped he would be up to the rigors of commanding during the upcoming weeks.
He checked his lists of avalible assets. He had two identical heavy fleets, consisting of 15 cruisers and 30 destroyers each (270m each), guarding his flanks at Tiber and Adhara. He also had a light striking fleet, consisting of 16 destroyers and 26 mantas (59.70m), based at Ursa. He pondered this list for a time, trying to decide how he could improve their current arrangement. Eventually, he decided to leave the two large fleets where they were for the time being, and move the light fleet to Castor, where they would keep a watch for Confed attacks.
This post has been edited by Ace Rimmer : 29 October 2005 - 07:41 PM
"Wha?!... this is overkill! Mantas just don't have that kind of firepower, what the Hell is going on?!"
"Can it and try not to get shot! Ya hear me?!"
"AYE!"
---
The scouts were outmanuvered, out distanced, outnumbered, and outgunned--it was all they could do not to die. Running like a madman, the squad leader jumped to the relitive safty of the curzon asteroid field, two mantas hot on his trail. The pilot who had been caught by suprise by the mantas' unusual amout of armament turned 180ş and went full thrust past a frantically firing manta and followed his squad leader, singed, but little worse for te wear. Another pilot tried to escape by playing chicken with the mantas, but unded up deep fried, and yet another managed to defeat his opponent, at the loss of his engines. All of the other scouts were crisped as they attemped to flee the system. The two escapees would likely have to fact the wrath of another patrol group, however.
Final Tally:
2 exp. mantas destroyed
-vs-
6 scoutships destroyed, 1 disabled
(Changed for pirate-like-ness. better?)
This post has been edited by ~vIsitor~ : 30 October 2005 - 06:58 PM
The Apple Cřre, on Oct 29 2005, 01:46 AM, said:
Minutes later, five Rebel cruisers, ten Rebel destroyers, and fifty Rebel Mantas screamed over New Istanbul's horizon. Two missiles from every ship burned every scoutship to a crisp.
This is actually one of the most reasonable parts of the post. What you need to do, Apple Core, is get rid of your mercs entirely and write from the Rebellion's point of view.
~vIsitor~, on Oct 29 2005, 11:09 AM, said:
Yemuro:
The group's 'rookie' was the sole survivor, and even then just barely. The mercs had struck without warning, and with rebel fire support. The team leader was the first to go, he never got off a shot, and rookie's other 7 wingmates were blown to atoms by repeated missle blasts. By sheer dumb luck the rather inexperienced pilot managed to mostly save the craft--but the end result left it engineless, weaponless, and without life support. Before he ran out of oxygen, his final acts were to set the sensors on automatic and send out a brief warning to the other reconnaissance groups. "Discovered...Team lost...heavy damage...won't last...mercs with rebels...Don't know our mission...yet..."
First off, it said in the previous post that there were no survivors. Besides, the mercs didn't do it-the rebels did. Since he dies anyway, it can be justified, but only if you take the mercs out of it.
The Apple Cřre, on Oct 29 2005, 04:13 PM, said:
Yemuro System:
The fleet gave it a full scan. Sure enough, there was an undetonated missile embedded in the starboard engine nacelle. So much for a new scoutship. Before the fleet's admiral so much as opened his mouth to give the order to close and fire, the warhead finally detonated.
I wouldn't know where this missile came from, since Visitor never mentioned any anywhere in his previous posts. Editing needs to be done.
Quote
Risa system:
The Pirate scoutships scattered. Squadron-and-one Mantas scattered with them. Five scoutships get the opportunity to duel. Four are left with a two-on-one battle. One of the Manta pilots got overzealous and squeezed his trigger at extreme distance. The numerous shots dissipated harmlessly without even draining the shields, but the scoutship pilot reflexively cornered the stick.
Not much here to attack.
~vIsitor~, on Oct 29 2005, 08:24 PM, said:
The scouts were outmanuvered, out distanced, outnumbered, and outgunned--it was all they could do not to die. The squad leader performed an amazing feat of aeorbatic trickery, and caused his pair of persuers to collide into eachother.
Uh, no.
Quote
...let the bemused manta pilot speed by harmlessly, and follow his squad leader whilst still in his persuer's rear-view mirror. One pilot destroyed the persuing manta on his six by self-destrucing, another won a duel but got disabled.
It's a safe bet that Manta pilots are considerably better trained than that, and since Scoutships don't have retro thrusters...
I doubt your pirates are willing to die for the cause.
Nothing too horrible on the last one, although it must've been some luck.
Quote
Final Tally:
4 exp. mantas destroyed
-vs-
6 scoutships destroyed, 1 disabled
Two Mantas, five Scoutships, counting the disabled ones. Some can get away, but the Manta losses have to be cut down considerably.
-Bob
This post has been edited by Consul Bob : 30 October 2005 - 05:51 PM
The Apple Cřre glanced at the viewscreen again. The Cruiser orbiting high above seemed to be moving faster. Wait a minute. DIdn't that defy the laws of physics? That thing is in a higher orbit, so it shouldn't be going faster. New Istanbul seemed to be moving.
"What the... where's New Istanbul going? And why is that Cruiser orbiting so fast?"
"You got me. Wait. New Istanbul seems to be moving on its orbit a bit faster, like the cruisers. If I didn't know better, somebody slapped us in a stasis jar and its in the process of turning on."
The bridge started fading around The Apple Cřre... into a new bridge. That of a Rebel Cruiser. The non-uniform of the Merc captain was replaced with a Rebel one with hundreds of battle patches.
/* Merc fleet in stasis. Can't be touched by anyone/anything unless emaniac returns. And it makes for a nice ghost story, which can't be told to anyone in the Rebel fleet because Admiral Apple Cřre's sanity would be in doubt =P */
The Apple Cřre switched off the screen after a long tightbeam chat with Ace Rimmer. The Tryvin fleet of two cruisers, four destroyers, and sixteen mantas has been sent to the Deneb system. One of Mackilroy's outposts was going to get smashed like a bug.
