WARHAMMER 40,000: ROGUE TRADER: THE CITADEL OF SKULLS (Roleplaying on the Farthest Frontiers)
- Thread starter DragonCobolt
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- Mature Sci-Fi Fantasy
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Pew pew pew pew pew!
This next update is going to be both big and take a while, due to this being the largest fleet combat I've run in this metaquest so far!
Fayhem
Definitely not an escaped SCP
- Location
- At large
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Ah yes, also known as the Imperial military ideal.
CHAPTER ONE: A Ghost From the Past (1.9
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Em nods, then puts his hat on.
This means it's officially go time.
"Ryia, if you'd be so kind as to make shifts to the Demise and bring her to silent running - no voxes, no calls, use those dust clouds and the grumbling of that old sun to our advantage and put a torpedo up their rudders."
Ryia grins. "I'll make sure the Demise does that." She glances away, then grabs onto Em and kisses him so fierce and so hard that his hat almost gets knocked off. Em's look of complete shock is so amusing you have to kiss him as well. Beside you, Jessie is looking like she's trying to not snicker.
When you're done, Em adjusts his hat, coughs, then says. "Vox the...uh, ahem...vox the Colossus, I want antitorpedo flights immediately. Put every man jack they have on those fighters into the void. Rak'gol love their boarding torpedoes." He shakes his head, then walks up to the prow of the bridge, looking out into the void.
You hum cheerfully, walking over to stand beside him.
"Think we'll be okay?" you ask.
"Of course," he says. "They're just some piddling xenos - we'll mop this up and be ready to make way again within the day."
You lean against him and sigh, quietly - and watch the beginning of space combat. It is, as ever...beautiful. The line of the Demise's course winks out and she vanishes into the void, invisible to sensoria and to your own eyes. Then there is simply your ribbon of plasma exhaust, the ruddy red sun, and the distant, winking fleet coming on and on, chasing after the Colossus. Your children are aboard her. Your heart tightens at that thought - and then you take heart.
"They've put out their imperals and t'gallants thrusters," Em says, handing you the scope. You look through it and can see that the plasma wake has gotten significantly larger and thicker, and the narrow beam of the Colossus in the eyepiece is definitely growing faster. You can also see tiny sparks of the fury interceptors launching. Your eyes widen.
"That's...a lot of fighters."
You lose count of them - beads and gemstones, flickering through the air.
"Sir, we have the Colossus, they're offering to patch their See-Eye-See datums into our vistaplate," one of the mids says.
"Put it on, we're going to be turning for a time," Em says and soon, you can see the glittering display of tiny red and blue dots.
There are a lot of blue dots - and only six red, coming in from the northern edge of the pict plate. Unfortunately, the red dots are arranged into approximately fifty clumps of wing pairs, each of them in a wide formation so they can cover the most space possible. That was great, if the blue dots were going past the Colossus and they needed to get intercepted. Less great for ensuring the majority of the fighters could gang up on them.
Still, even with only half their little red dots, the Colossus swarm looked more than able to handle the blue dots.
"What are the blue thingies?" you ask.
"I'm not sure...boarding torpedoes maybe?" Em murmurs as the dots flicker - and you watch as a single red dot slips up between two and, within a few seconds, destroys both. You have no idea how, considering a torpedo is a sixty meter long, heavily armored chunk of adamantine and furious plasma engine. That same fighter then zips along, wounding one blue dot so that two other wings can zip down and destroy it…
"Who is flying that?" Em asks, laughing. "We have the making of an ace already." He chuckles. "Fury-001, definitely earning that number today…"
"Oh, it's-" Jess starts. Then she stops.
Slowly, you and Em turn to face her.
The first officer of the Revenge is looking down at her data slate. SHe hastily puts it behind herself.
"...Jessie…" Em says.
"Ah, Sir, uh…" She coughs. "News from the Colossus…"
"Yes…" Em says, his voice growing stern.
"It seems, ah, they...have sent a message...that says that Miss Ryia has arrived safely…"
Em's jaw tightens.
"And, as you ordered, she has been given command of Fury-001."
Em and you turn back to the screen.
Fury-001 appeared to be doing loop dee loops through friendly formations.
"...well," you say. "At least she's having fun!"
"Sir!"
You and Em both clap scopes to your eyes and see that the Rak'gol are still coming on. To the northern edge, three frigates - designated as Mauler class torpedo boats, the Disgust, the Destructive and the Xenocide - are coming through the northerly dust plume. They were the ones who had fired the torpedoes. But your eyes aren't on them, but rather, on the central squadron. Three cruisers, apparently the Mangler class lance cruisers: The Loathsome, the Abomination and the Hateful.
The Loathsome was the one who had the eyes of your crew, and you heard Em laugh.
"Ah, they've knocked away a spar…"
You can't see it at first - the view is too confused, but as you adjust the scope, you can see the jagged, angular craft is dragging at least two kilometers of rigging and a dangling thrust-nodule. The whole ship is bleeding oxygen and plasma, and you can see that it is listing ever so slightly.
"She clipped an asteroid!" Em laughs, closing his scope. "We'll see if they can set her to rights, but considering these lubberly xenos, I shan't bet on it."
Several blinks and flashes in the middle of the field draw your eye. You gulp, seeing that the Colossus has been bracketed by green puffs of explosives - some of the southern formation have gotten their guns to bear and are firing from the depths of a dust cloud, lighting it like a stormfront.
No damage.
You breathe out a slow sigh of relief.
"We're out of the range of their guns, it seems." Em says
"Sir, the Colossus has scrambled her bombers."
Even from a distance, the view of a hundred Starhawk bombers taking to the void in chevron rows, escorted by a hundred Fury class interceptors, is breathtaking. You take it in - seeing that Ryia is at their head. They arrow towards the souterly squadron, a set of three ships: the Blackguard, the Terrible and the Vile - and then your eyes widen more as you see the clouds rippling. Dark shapes burst forth...jagged, fast moving ones. Moving to protect the Blackguard, the bomber's targets.
"Enemy fighters!" you say.
Em puts his hand on your shoulder as the two forces meet and the sky becomes a malestrom of detonating rockets, lancing pulses of laserfire, bolt shells, and vulcanfire. You try and track Ryia through it all, but lose her in the chaos. But you can see Fury interceptors ganging up two to one to take on the hideous Rak'Gol craft - lancing them down and streaking off to find new prey. The bombers, which you had expected to be lumbering and slow and utterly at the mercy of the enemy…
Well.
Slow? Yes.
Lumbering? Yes.
But mercy?
Not in the numbers they had. The Starhawks were flying in chevron patterns, and their belly and dorsal guns were filling the air with so many bolter shells and laser blasts that even you could see them from a distance of a hundred thousand kilometers away.
...through a telescope, but still.
Rak'gol fighters were going down in droves!
"More torpedoes!" Em points. You hate being so distant - watching as the Colossus tries to bear away from the torpedoes. But with half her fighters off escorting the bombers, she has significantly less luck - you watch as a torpedo detonates, but then see another plunges home into the hull, then another. The third strikes a glancing hit against ceramite armor and tumbles up and away from the prow of the ship, only to be picked off helplessly as it tumbles off into space.
"Imagine riding those…" you mutter.
"I'd really rather not," Em says. "Give me a situation on the hit and run attacks and good Emperor, when are we going to be in range of those bastards?"
"They are coming on awful fast, Em," you say, softly.
"Good," he says.
"Reports coming in now…" one of the communications officers says, her finger on the lectern. "The first pod struck amidships, they sealed it and the local armsmen are engaging the survivors in close in fighting. Nasty, but doable." She pauses. "The other...they've fired something-" She winces looking over. "Plasma detonation on the ship, sir."
You look through the scope and see that the detonation, fortunately, looks like it has just blown a ragged hole through the forward auspex!
"That's not so bad…" you mutter.
"According to the report, a young officer took it upon themselves to…" the communications officer pauses, reading. "Bodily eject the plasma charge from a port airlock via the expedient of a bolt pistol applied sans opening ritual to the internal door controls."
"I want that gentleman given a commendation, that prow area has the nova cannon rounds," Em says, immediately.
"Aye sir!"
You look out into space as the Colossus comes into sight - literally, into visual range. With the smooth grace of a gazellion on the fields of Scintilla, before the hives, they cut their t'gallants, reef the mainsail to halfmast, then bring their ship into your lee. You giggle to yourself. You've got this sailor such and such down pat! Hah!
"Now, where's the Tachyon…" you mutter, looking out at the depths of space. The Rak'Gol fleet appears to be trying to cluster - their ships pulling together, constricting, then…
You frown, spotting an interruption in the flashing - as if…
The Tachyon announces herself a mere fifty thousand kilometers from the nadier of the enemy formation with a half a dozen torpedoes, all of which struck a rippling pattern of destruction along the side of the Vile, the most outfling of the Rak'Gol's southerly faction. The detonations bring a cheer from the whole crew and you beam as you lower your scope. "She's crippled and burning, Em! Hah! Show's THEM!"
"We're in range, sir!"
"Fire as she bears!" Em says.
The whole Revenge shudders, from her stem to her stern. The lances speak and the ceiling lumens flicker for a moment - but there's no shocking detonation, no cheering. Just the grumbling and shooting, continuing for minute upon grinding minute. Em shakes his head. "The Rak'gol ships move like Emperor be damned frogs - it's throwing off our gunnery."
"I mean, also, we're at incredibly long range," you mutter to him.
"Heh. True." Em says, pursing his lips.
The Disgust, the Destructive and the Xenocide continue on their forward course - which threads them between the Loathsome and the Hateful as they bring their forward weapons to bear, but it seems we're beyond their relatively pitiful range. What is most interesting, though, is that the Loathsome has continued on its forward course. You watch it go and realize…
They still haven't fixed the rudder.
"Get ready," Em says - and you see that the Hateful and the Abominable have brought their prows to bear and come into range. Greenish light flares from their noses and their dorsal ridges light up. Detonations flicker around the Revenge and you tense for the incoming shots. The shields ripple and flare with green flashes of detonations - and you swear you can hear the screaming sounds of the incoming shots. You clench your jaws, then tense.
You hate this part most of all.
You hate it.
You hate it.
The shields shudder and crash down and the shells are still coming in. They strike amidships first - and your heart twists. How many of your friends are going to be dead? How many new faces are you going to need to learn to meet? How...many…
You blink.
There are a few detonations. But mostly, what you see are the glinting shapes of shells rebounding off the armor. Chunks of stone fly off with them, chipping and grinding against the masonry that clads your ship. But no secondary flashes, no ripping hull, no groaning sounds. No faint mind-screams of the dying. The fire slackens, then dies off, as Em whispers, softly.
"...they...can't penetrate our hull," he says, then looks at you.
Your eyes shine.
"They can't penetrate our hull," you whisper back to him.
Em beams.
The southern formation, meanwhile, is having an even worse problem. The Blackguard is plunging forward into the Loathsome, which hasn't had a chance to turn aside or maneuver. The two ships fire their ungainly engines, spurt space with maneuvering jets, but...in the close in encounter of an orbital battle, there's less room for error than there would have been anywhere else. The Blackguard swings around at the last second - but just in time for one of the spines of the Loathsome to pierce into her side. Her mainsail flickers and dims...just in time for the Terrible to smash in, nose first. The Terrible rebounds and befouls the Vile - and the entire southerly formation is brought to a near halt.
You laugh, shaking your head. "Oh my God Emperor, have you ever seen the like?"
"More than you'd think," Em says, shaking his head. "Honestly, that's not even the worst - once, I saw a Repulsive class, on accident, sheer a Sword in half, during training-"
The Tachyon, clearly not wanting to drive into the mess forming half in, half out of the southerly dust clouds, cut her speed and came smoothly to bear. Her broadsides rumbled, and you could watch the shells come in around the Disgust, but the frigate seemed to take only moderate damage. You watch it all, and shake your head as Em continues.
"-the admiral didn't even get court martialed, it was a rum affair, the whole way through."
To your port, the Colossus pulls ahead, her engines flaring. You watch her sail for a time, admiring the skill of her crew. She sweeps wide, wide, wide out to the port side of your ship, clearly intending to both get distance and bring her prow to bear. You have to admit, that idea excites you as much as it scares you.
"Oh! The bombers are coming in," Em says.
This you have to see. You put your telescope to your eye, just in time to see the wings of bombers and fighters, taking advantage of the fact there didn't seem to be a single Rak'gol ship flying smaller than two kilometers long and the fact that their target had just cut their own mainsail on their friend's ship...and they pounced upon the Blackguard with ferocity. The bombs they released were shockingly close ranged, bright blue orbs of plasma weaponry, which detonated along the ship as they swept over it again and again - before peeling away and sweeping back, leaving the ship burning and drifting.
"A nice show," Em says. "You know, most admirals think carrier ships are more trouble than they're worth."
"Now, I've only met one Admiral…" you say, and then frown. "And he stabbed me in the back, shortly after my adoptive daughter was murdered, so my opinion is not very high."
Old pain.
Old, old pain now.
Em puts his hand on your shoulder and you close your eyes, breathe in, breath out, and manage to not crush the telescope to mangled scrap between your fingers.
"Sir, the fighters are clear," one of the officers, you're not sure who, says.
Em, his arm sliding around you, drawing in close, says: "Give the Disgust our broadside...but spare a lance for the Blackguard, while her shields are down."
"Aye, sir."
You open your eyes in time to see the brilliant white flare of the Disgust going up like it's Gorge Vandire Day as the lance pierces her magazines. God Emperor, you missed burning a Vandire. As the shimmering wave of plasmafire sweeps out and leaves several Rak'gol ships streaming with smoke and blackened with char, you turn to Em and smile at him. "We should do a Gorge Vandire Day!"
"...Gorge...Vandire Day?" he asks, shocked.
"You've never celebrated?"
"I...he...led the Age of Apostasy?" Em sounds horrified now. "He killed billions of people? Some people called him the Second Horus-"
"Wait, you…" You laugh. "No, no, Em! Em! It's to celebrate his death! You know, Remember, Remember the 5th of…" you trail off. "We...we make effigies of him and light them on fire…" Em still looks mystified. "It's fun!" You pout. "I haven't had a chance, since, we've been so busy flying around, saving the galaxy…"
"We haven't saved the galaxy, dear," Em says, wryly. "It's mostly been making us alarming amounts of money."
"Same thing, though!" you stick your tongue out at him.
During this entire conversation, the Xenocide, Abomination and Hateful have come upon our aft and are firing their lances and howler guns at us to little to no effect. Torpedoes are also approaching, fired by some of the Rak'gol ships, and you watch them with some concern before the remaining fighters protecting the Colossus sweep in to pick them off - even those that are coming for you.
"Those flyboys are so polite," you say.
"Wait until you meet them in person," Em says.
You bite your lip. "Hmm...might there be...fly girls?"
Em flushes hard and barks out: "Report on the Tachyon!"
"She's gone, sir - into the dust cloud, we've lost her...the bombers have just hulked the Terrible!"
Cheers rang out and you watch as the Revenge comes around - moving up to match course with the Colossus - firing as she bears on the Disgust. The Rak'gol frigate's shields crumples under the macro-cannons and a trio of lance hits bore along her dorsal and port flanks, leaving behind shimmering red canyons in her armor plating. You give a little, cheerful nod, and then train your scopes on the Loathsome.
"Oh, hey, they've got the manuvering-" you stop as you see that the front of the ship is already glowing with air friction. You scroll back and see, from a comfortable distance of a hundred thousand kilometers, the three click long, eighteen megaton warship plow into Chorda's Folly at thirty eight kilometers per second. It does not break up in the atmosphere and the void shields are still going strong as it plows into the continent on the far side from the colony. You wince at the brilliant flare of light.
Your Logis Implant states, helpfully, that the ship had released approximately 3.2 megatons of force - the same as a moderate sized atomic - purely from impact. The world was fortunate indeed that the Rak'Gol used fission pulse drives, not plasma drives. An unreefed plasma drive could…
Your Logis Implant helpfully chittered up numbers.
Yeah, you didn't need to know those numbers.
"Sir, we have two frigates bearing in - the Xenocide and the Destructive."
"Put out our t'gallants," Em says - and the Revenge shudders. You spend a few moments chewing your knuckle, watching as the Xenocide gets closer and closer - and as it gets closer and closer, the guns remain silent. You recognize that it is trying to board. But despite the ferocious speeds it puts on, jumping to try and catch up with the Revenge, the Revenge's crew show just what their mettle is: Again and again, she pulses a thrust, she throws out a sail, she adjusts her course just so, and again and again, the Xenocide fails to catch…
Buying time enough for the bombers to arrive.
At close range, the lightshow is incredible and you watch in awe as the Xenocide seems to ignite from her stem to her stern, plasma bombs detonating again and again and again. The Xenocide gutters and dies and falls away, her mainsail dismasted and her crew dead. Hulked. You smile - then yelp as a Fury shoots past your bridge, so close you can see the waving figure in the cockpit.
You glare, shouting at the vistaplate. "RYIA! WHEN YOU GET BACK!"
"She's shot down at two torpedoes, three fighters, including a Rak'gol squad leader, blown up five turrets-" Em says, reading off a data slate.
"We...you...are going to eat her out, then!" You say, just as loudly.
"Tine!" Em exclaims. "We're on the bridge!"
The Revenge sweeps in a smooth arc - and with the dust cloud kissing your starboard side, you watch the distant Rak'Gol ships. The guns speak, and you half expect nothing to come of it. After the jinking and dodging you've done, you're-
A single lance cores through the damaged Disgust and leaves a smoldering hole through her belly which shows nothing but clear space on the far end.
Then the Disgust explodes with a purple white fury, roaring out as a vortex explodes to life and the warp core detonates. You've seen this kind of thing before - and to see it again makes you cheer. The Disgust drags down with it the Abominable and the Hateful…
And with that, space is silent, save for the last frigate, the Destructive, who begins to turn, turn, turn away...soaring away, flying away, hounded by bomber flight after bomber flight. You watch with some interest as the three human ships of your little fleet come into formation once more - but after an hour of bomber watching, you realize that, as the ships grow more and more distant from one another, the bombers are able to make fewer and fewer attacks.
Streaming oxygen and corpses, with the crew literally throwing guns overboard and dropping cargo to lighten their mass, the Destructive hits a lagrange point and…
Is gone, gone into the Warp.
Em sighs, quietly, then smiles as Jess steps up.
"The Colossus is preparing a shuttle to send over the children and the officer you recommended for gallantry," she says.
Em frowns. "While I...do wish to thank this young man, I...do want to meet my children first," he says, seriously.
Jessie looks like she's trying to think of how to phrase something.
Instead, she hands him the data slate.
Em looks down at it.
Long pause.
"THEY WHAT!?"
---
CHAPTER ONE...
COMPLETE
Objective: Secure Colony (175 AP)
Objective: Learn the Fate of the Colony (25 AP)
Objective: Find Drexus Skar (100 AP)
Objective: Learn Drexus Skar is a Chaos Reaver (100 AP)
Objective: Learn Drexus Skar's secrets (40 AP)
Objective: Defeat Rak'Gol Fleet Without A Scratch (100 AP)
CALCULATING BONUS AP
Objective Theme: Exploration, Military
Bonus AP from Talents: 0 AP
Bonus AP from Components: 250 AP
TOTAL AP: 790/1,200 AP
EXPERINCE REWARDS
500 XP - Participation
500 XP - Good Roleplaying
1100 XP - Completed Objectives & defeated Rak'Gol Without a Scratch
This means it's officially go time.
"Ryia, if you'd be so kind as to make shifts to the Demise and bring her to silent running - no voxes, no calls, use those dust clouds and the grumbling of that old sun to our advantage and put a torpedo up their rudders."
Ryia grins. "I'll make sure the Demise does that." She glances away, then grabs onto Em and kisses him so fierce and so hard that his hat almost gets knocked off. Em's look of complete shock is so amusing you have to kiss him as well. Beside you, Jessie is looking like she's trying to not snicker.
When you're done, Em adjusts his hat, coughs, then says. "Vox the...uh, ahem...vox the Colossus, I want antitorpedo flights immediately. Put every man jack they have on those fighters into the void. Rak'gol love their boarding torpedoes." He shakes his head, then walks up to the prow of the bridge, looking out into the void.
You hum cheerfully, walking over to stand beside him.
"Think we'll be okay?" you ask.
"Of course," he says. "They're just some piddling xenos - we'll mop this up and be ready to make way again within the day."
You lean against him and sigh, quietly - and watch the beginning of space combat. It is, as ever...beautiful. The line of the Demise's course winks out and she vanishes into the void, invisible to sensoria and to your own eyes. Then there is simply your ribbon of plasma exhaust, the ruddy red sun, and the distant, winking fleet coming on and on, chasing after the Colossus. Your children are aboard her. Your heart tightens at that thought - and then you take heart.
"They've put out their imperals and t'gallants thrusters," Em says, handing you the scope. You look through it and can see that the plasma wake has gotten significantly larger and thicker, and the narrow beam of the Colossus in the eyepiece is definitely growing faster. You can also see tiny sparks of the fury interceptors launching. Your eyes widen.
"That's...a lot of fighters."
You lose count of them - beads and gemstones, flickering through the air.
"Sir, we have the Colossus, they're offering to patch their See-Eye-See datums into our vistaplate," one of the mids says.
"Put it on, we're going to be turning for a time," Em says and soon, you can see the glittering display of tiny red and blue dots.
There are a lot of blue dots - and only six red, coming in from the northern edge of the pict plate. Unfortunately, the red dots are arranged into approximately fifty clumps of wing pairs, each of them in a wide formation so they can cover the most space possible. That was great, if the blue dots were going past the Colossus and they needed to get intercepted. Less great for ensuring the majority of the fighters could gang up on them.
Still, even with only half their little red dots, the Colossus swarm looked more than able to handle the blue dots.
"What are the blue thingies?" you ask.
"I'm not sure...boarding torpedoes maybe?" Em murmurs as the dots flicker - and you watch as a single red dot slips up between two and, within a few seconds, destroys both. You have no idea how, considering a torpedo is a sixty meter long, heavily armored chunk of adamantine and furious plasma engine. That same fighter then zips along, wounding one blue dot so that two other wings can zip down and destroy it…
"Who is flying that?" Em asks, laughing. "We have the making of an ace already." He chuckles. "Fury-001, definitely earning that number today…"
"Oh, it's-" Jess starts. Then she stops.
Slowly, you and Em turn to face her.
The first officer of the Revenge is looking down at her data slate. SHe hastily puts it behind herself.
"...Jessie…" Em says.
"Ah, Sir, uh…" She coughs. "News from the Colossus…"
"Yes…" Em says, his voice growing stern.
"It seems, ah, they...have sent a message...that says that Miss Ryia has arrived safely…"
Em's jaw tightens.
"And, as you ordered, she has been given command of Fury-001."
Em and you turn back to the screen.
Fury-001 appeared to be doing loop dee loops through friendly formations.
"...well," you say. "At least she's having fun!"
"Sir!"
You and Em both clap scopes to your eyes and see that the Rak'gol are still coming on. To the northern edge, three frigates - designated as Mauler class torpedo boats, the Disgust, the Destructive and the Xenocide - are coming through the northerly dust plume. They were the ones who had fired the torpedoes. But your eyes aren't on them, but rather, on the central squadron. Three cruisers, apparently the Mangler class lance cruisers: The Loathsome, the Abomination and the Hateful.
The Loathsome was the one who had the eyes of your crew, and you heard Em laugh.
"Ah, they've knocked away a spar…"
You can't see it at first - the view is too confused, but as you adjust the scope, you can see the jagged, angular craft is dragging at least two kilometers of rigging and a dangling thrust-nodule. The whole ship is bleeding oxygen and plasma, and you can see that it is listing ever so slightly.
"She clipped an asteroid!" Em laughs, closing his scope. "We'll see if they can set her to rights, but considering these lubberly xenos, I shan't bet on it."
Several blinks and flashes in the middle of the field draw your eye. You gulp, seeing that the Colossus has been bracketed by green puffs of explosives - some of the southern formation have gotten their guns to bear and are firing from the depths of a dust cloud, lighting it like a stormfront.
No damage.
You breathe out a slow sigh of relief.
"We're out of the range of their guns, it seems." Em says
"Sir, the Colossus has scrambled her bombers."
Even from a distance, the view of a hundred Starhawk bombers taking to the void in chevron rows, escorted by a hundred Fury class interceptors, is breathtaking. You take it in - seeing that Ryia is at their head. They arrow towards the souterly squadron, a set of three ships: the Blackguard, the Terrible and the Vile - and then your eyes widen more as you see the clouds rippling. Dark shapes burst forth...jagged, fast moving ones. Moving to protect the Blackguard, the bomber's targets.
"Enemy fighters!" you say.
Em puts his hand on your shoulder as the two forces meet and the sky becomes a malestrom of detonating rockets, lancing pulses of laserfire, bolt shells, and vulcanfire. You try and track Ryia through it all, but lose her in the chaos. But you can see Fury interceptors ganging up two to one to take on the hideous Rak'Gol craft - lancing them down and streaking off to find new prey. The bombers, which you had expected to be lumbering and slow and utterly at the mercy of the enemy…
Well.
Slow? Yes.
Lumbering? Yes.
But mercy?
Not in the numbers they had. The Starhawks were flying in chevron patterns, and their belly and dorsal guns were filling the air with so many bolter shells and laser blasts that even you could see them from a distance of a hundred thousand kilometers away.
...through a telescope, but still.
Rak'gol fighters were going down in droves!
"More torpedoes!" Em points. You hate being so distant - watching as the Colossus tries to bear away from the torpedoes. But with half her fighters off escorting the bombers, she has significantly less luck - you watch as a torpedo detonates, but then see another plunges home into the hull, then another. The third strikes a glancing hit against ceramite armor and tumbles up and away from the prow of the ship, only to be picked off helplessly as it tumbles off into space.
"Imagine riding those…" you mutter.
"I'd really rather not," Em says. "Give me a situation on the hit and run attacks and good Emperor, when are we going to be in range of those bastards?"
"They are coming on awful fast, Em," you say, softly.
"Good," he says.
"Reports coming in now…" one of the communications officers says, her finger on the lectern. "The first pod struck amidships, they sealed it and the local armsmen are engaging the survivors in close in fighting. Nasty, but doable." She pauses. "The other...they've fired something-" She winces looking over. "Plasma detonation on the ship, sir."
You look through the scope and see that the detonation, fortunately, looks like it has just blown a ragged hole through the forward auspex!
"That's not so bad…" you mutter.
"According to the report, a young officer took it upon themselves to…" the communications officer pauses, reading. "Bodily eject the plasma charge from a port airlock via the expedient of a bolt pistol applied sans opening ritual to the internal door controls."
"I want that gentleman given a commendation, that prow area has the nova cannon rounds," Em says, immediately.
"Aye sir!"
You look out into space as the Colossus comes into sight - literally, into visual range. With the smooth grace of a gazellion on the fields of Scintilla, before the hives, they cut their t'gallants, reef the mainsail to halfmast, then bring their ship into your lee. You giggle to yourself. You've got this sailor such and such down pat! Hah!
"Now, where's the Tachyon…" you mutter, looking out at the depths of space. The Rak'Gol fleet appears to be trying to cluster - their ships pulling together, constricting, then…
You frown, spotting an interruption in the flashing - as if…
The Tachyon announces herself a mere fifty thousand kilometers from the nadier of the enemy formation with a half a dozen torpedoes, all of which struck a rippling pattern of destruction along the side of the Vile, the most outfling of the Rak'Gol's southerly faction. The detonations bring a cheer from the whole crew and you beam as you lower your scope. "She's crippled and burning, Em! Hah! Show's THEM!"
"We're in range, sir!"
"Fire as she bears!" Em says.
The whole Revenge shudders, from her stem to her stern. The lances speak and the ceiling lumens flicker for a moment - but there's no shocking detonation, no cheering. Just the grumbling and shooting, continuing for minute upon grinding minute. Em shakes his head. "The Rak'gol ships move like Emperor be damned frogs - it's throwing off our gunnery."
"I mean, also, we're at incredibly long range," you mutter to him.
"Heh. True." Em says, pursing his lips.
The Disgust, the Destructive and the Xenocide continue on their forward course - which threads them between the Loathsome and the Hateful as they bring their forward weapons to bear, but it seems we're beyond their relatively pitiful range. What is most interesting, though, is that the Loathsome has continued on its forward course. You watch it go and realize…
They still haven't fixed the rudder.
"Get ready," Em says - and you see that the Hateful and the Abominable have brought their prows to bear and come into range. Greenish light flares from their noses and their dorsal ridges light up. Detonations flicker around the Revenge and you tense for the incoming shots. The shields ripple and flare with green flashes of detonations - and you swear you can hear the screaming sounds of the incoming shots. You clench your jaws, then tense.
You hate this part most of all.
You hate it.
You hate it.
The shields shudder and crash down and the shells are still coming in. They strike amidships first - and your heart twists. How many of your friends are going to be dead? How many new faces are you going to need to learn to meet? How...many…
You blink.
There are a few detonations. But mostly, what you see are the glinting shapes of shells rebounding off the armor. Chunks of stone fly off with them, chipping and grinding against the masonry that clads your ship. But no secondary flashes, no ripping hull, no groaning sounds. No faint mind-screams of the dying. The fire slackens, then dies off, as Em whispers, softly.
"...they...can't penetrate our hull," he says, then looks at you.
Your eyes shine.
"They can't penetrate our hull," you whisper back to him.
Em beams.
The southern formation, meanwhile, is having an even worse problem. The Blackguard is plunging forward into the Loathsome, which hasn't had a chance to turn aside or maneuver. The two ships fire their ungainly engines, spurt space with maneuvering jets, but...in the close in encounter of an orbital battle, there's less room for error than there would have been anywhere else. The Blackguard swings around at the last second - but just in time for one of the spines of the Loathsome to pierce into her side. Her mainsail flickers and dims...just in time for the Terrible to smash in, nose first. The Terrible rebounds and befouls the Vile - and the entire southerly formation is brought to a near halt.
You laugh, shaking your head. "Oh my God Emperor, have you ever seen the like?"
"More than you'd think," Em says, shaking his head. "Honestly, that's not even the worst - once, I saw a Repulsive class, on accident, sheer a Sword in half, during training-"
The Tachyon, clearly not wanting to drive into the mess forming half in, half out of the southerly dust clouds, cut her speed and came smoothly to bear. Her broadsides rumbled, and you could watch the shells come in around the Disgust, but the frigate seemed to take only moderate damage. You watch it all, and shake your head as Em continues.
"-the admiral didn't even get court martialed, it was a rum affair, the whole way through."
To your port, the Colossus pulls ahead, her engines flaring. You watch her sail for a time, admiring the skill of her crew. She sweeps wide, wide, wide out to the port side of your ship, clearly intending to both get distance and bring her prow to bear. You have to admit, that idea excites you as much as it scares you.
"Oh! The bombers are coming in," Em says.
This you have to see. You put your telescope to your eye, just in time to see the wings of bombers and fighters, taking advantage of the fact there didn't seem to be a single Rak'gol ship flying smaller than two kilometers long and the fact that their target had just cut their own mainsail on their friend's ship...and they pounced upon the Blackguard with ferocity. The bombs they released were shockingly close ranged, bright blue orbs of plasma weaponry, which detonated along the ship as they swept over it again and again - before peeling away and sweeping back, leaving the ship burning and drifting.
"A nice show," Em says. "You know, most admirals think carrier ships are more trouble than they're worth."
"Now, I've only met one Admiral…" you say, and then frown. "And he stabbed me in the back, shortly after my adoptive daughter was murdered, so my opinion is not very high."
Old pain.
Old, old pain now.
Em puts his hand on your shoulder and you close your eyes, breathe in, breath out, and manage to not crush the telescope to mangled scrap between your fingers.
"Sir, the fighters are clear," one of the officers, you're not sure who, says.
Em, his arm sliding around you, drawing in close, says: "Give the Disgust our broadside...but spare a lance for the Blackguard, while her shields are down."
"Aye, sir."
You open your eyes in time to see the brilliant white flare of the Disgust going up like it's Gorge Vandire Day as the lance pierces her magazines. God Emperor, you missed burning a Vandire. As the shimmering wave of plasmafire sweeps out and leaves several Rak'gol ships streaming with smoke and blackened with char, you turn to Em and smile at him. "We should do a Gorge Vandire Day!"
"...Gorge...Vandire Day?" he asks, shocked.
"You've never celebrated?"
"I...he...led the Age of Apostasy?" Em sounds horrified now. "He killed billions of people? Some people called him the Second Horus-"
"Wait, you…" You laugh. "No, no, Em! Em! It's to celebrate his death! You know, Remember, Remember the 5th of…" you trail off. "We...we make effigies of him and light them on fire…" Em still looks mystified. "It's fun!" You pout. "I haven't had a chance, since, we've been so busy flying around, saving the galaxy…"
"We haven't saved the galaxy, dear," Em says, wryly. "It's mostly been making us alarming amounts of money."
"Same thing, though!" you stick your tongue out at him.
During this entire conversation, the Xenocide, Abomination and Hateful have come upon our aft and are firing their lances and howler guns at us to little to no effect. Torpedoes are also approaching, fired by some of the Rak'gol ships, and you watch them with some concern before the remaining fighters protecting the Colossus sweep in to pick them off - even those that are coming for you.
"Those flyboys are so polite," you say.
"Wait until you meet them in person," Em says.
You bite your lip. "Hmm...might there be...fly girls?"
Em flushes hard and barks out: "Report on the Tachyon!"
"She's gone, sir - into the dust cloud, we've lost her...the bombers have just hulked the Terrible!"
Cheers rang out and you watch as the Revenge comes around - moving up to match course with the Colossus - firing as she bears on the Disgust. The Rak'gol frigate's shields crumples under the macro-cannons and a trio of lance hits bore along her dorsal and port flanks, leaving behind shimmering red canyons in her armor plating. You give a little, cheerful nod, and then train your scopes on the Loathsome.
"Oh, hey, they've got the manuvering-" you stop as you see that the front of the ship is already glowing with air friction. You scroll back and see, from a comfortable distance of a hundred thousand kilometers, the three click long, eighteen megaton warship plow into Chorda's Folly at thirty eight kilometers per second. It does not break up in the atmosphere and the void shields are still going strong as it plows into the continent on the far side from the colony. You wince at the brilliant flare of light.
Your Logis Implant states, helpfully, that the ship had released approximately 3.2 megatons of force - the same as a moderate sized atomic - purely from impact. The world was fortunate indeed that the Rak'Gol used fission pulse drives, not plasma drives. An unreefed plasma drive could…
Your Logis Implant helpfully chittered up numbers.
Yeah, you didn't need to know those numbers.
"Sir, we have two frigates bearing in - the Xenocide and the Destructive."
"Put out our t'gallants," Em says - and the Revenge shudders. You spend a few moments chewing your knuckle, watching as the Xenocide gets closer and closer - and as it gets closer and closer, the guns remain silent. You recognize that it is trying to board. But despite the ferocious speeds it puts on, jumping to try and catch up with the Revenge, the Revenge's crew show just what their mettle is: Again and again, she pulses a thrust, she throws out a sail, she adjusts her course just so, and again and again, the Xenocide fails to catch…
Buying time enough for the bombers to arrive.
At close range, the lightshow is incredible and you watch in awe as the Xenocide seems to ignite from her stem to her stern, plasma bombs detonating again and again and again. The Xenocide gutters and dies and falls away, her mainsail dismasted and her crew dead. Hulked. You smile - then yelp as a Fury shoots past your bridge, so close you can see the waving figure in the cockpit.
You glare, shouting at the vistaplate. "RYIA! WHEN YOU GET BACK!"
"She's shot down at two torpedoes, three fighters, including a Rak'gol squad leader, blown up five turrets-" Em says, reading off a data slate.
"We...you...are going to eat her out, then!" You say, just as loudly.
"Tine!" Em exclaims. "We're on the bridge!"
The Revenge sweeps in a smooth arc - and with the dust cloud kissing your starboard side, you watch the distant Rak'Gol ships. The guns speak, and you half expect nothing to come of it. After the jinking and dodging you've done, you're-
A single lance cores through the damaged Disgust and leaves a smoldering hole through her belly which shows nothing but clear space on the far end.
Then the Disgust explodes with a purple white fury, roaring out as a vortex explodes to life and the warp core detonates. You've seen this kind of thing before - and to see it again makes you cheer. The Disgust drags down with it the Abominable and the Hateful…
And with that, space is silent, save for the last frigate, the Destructive, who begins to turn, turn, turn away...soaring away, flying away, hounded by bomber flight after bomber flight. You watch with some interest as the three human ships of your little fleet come into formation once more - but after an hour of bomber watching, you realize that, as the ships grow more and more distant from one another, the bombers are able to make fewer and fewer attacks.
Streaming oxygen and corpses, with the crew literally throwing guns overboard and dropping cargo to lighten their mass, the Destructive hits a lagrange point and…
Is gone, gone into the Warp.
Em sighs, quietly, then smiles as Jess steps up.
"The Colossus is preparing a shuttle to send over the children and the officer you recommended for gallantry," she says.
Em frowns. "While I...do wish to thank this young man, I...do want to meet my children first," he says, seriously.
Jessie looks like she's trying to think of how to phrase something.
Instead, she hands him the data slate.
Em looks down at it.
Long pause.
"THEY WHAT!?"
---
CHAPTER ONE...
COMPLETE
Objective: Secure Colony (175 AP)
Objective: Learn the Fate of the Colony (25 AP)
Objective: Find Drexus Skar (100 AP)
Objective: Learn Drexus Skar is a Chaos Reaver (100 AP)
Objective: Learn Drexus Skar's secrets (40 AP)
Objective: Defeat Rak'Gol Fleet Without A Scratch (100 AP)
CALCULATING BONUS AP
Objective Theme: Exploration, Military
Bonus AP from Talents: 0 AP
Bonus AP from Components: 250 AP
TOTAL AP: 790/1,200 AP
EXPERINCE REWARDS
500 XP - Participation
500 XP - Good Roleplaying
1100 XP - Completed Objectives & defeated Rak'Gol Without a Scratch
Tachyon's Demise: 10
Colossus: 10
Revenge: 6
Central Squadron: 5
Northern Squadron: 4
Southern Squadron: 3
ROUND ONE
The Tachyon's Demise comes to a new heading while silent running: 47 with a FP (4/6) allowing her to turn 1 VU earlier. She swings south, with the dust cloud between her and the Rak'Gol. While several ships are in range, she doesn't fire.
The Colossus adjusts speed: 17! 4 DOS, adding +4 speed! She pulls 9 VU ahead of the Rak'Gol fleet, narrowly evading the asteroid she clears. She begins to bring her nose around and launches her squadrons: 10 fighters to CVP their ship and begins prepping to launch 10 bombers.
Revenge: Comes to a new bearing, fails, moves forward at half speed. The enemy are out of her range.
The Central Squadron comes dead on. The Rak'Gol Light Cruiser designated Loathesome tries to clip an asteroid but fails and drags her armor along the side, taking a serious blow that carries away a spar and damages her rudder. She cannot turn. The Loathesome, Hateful, and Abominable all barely have their lances in range and get three misses. They then scramble their fighters for combat void patrol, putting 6 squads of Bloodflayers into the void.
The Northern squadron comes through the dust cloud and bring their prows to bear. Their Howlers are out of range, save for the prow and dorsal howlers on the Disgust. The Disgust opens fire and misses with their full salvo. The Colossus remains undaunted. Then the Northern Squadron fires their torpedoes! As all are within 10 VU, the torpedoes reach the Colossus in waves!
FIGHTER INTERCEPT
5 Fighters means +20 (1 makes the attack, +5 for each supporting), +12 for the attack value, +5 for the bridge.
BUT FIRST: Ryia makes a 67% piloting check...
So, Ryia has gotten 5 DOS! She personally shoots down TWO torpedoes, and adds +15 (5 base, +5 for 2 DOS, +5 for 4 DOS) to the roll, which is a 45, for a total of 82%, so 4 DOS, so, yeah, that's all the torps! Good job Ryia!
The Southern Squadron comes into the sourthern dust field, and brings their prows to bear on the Colossus. They open fire with their dorsal and prow guns and, with SIX shots, get 1 fucking DOS, which does get them 2 hits, which aren't enough to batter through the Colossus' Shields. ...then they fire their six torpedoes
FIGHTER INTERCEPT
Ryia makes her 67% piloting check and gets 2 DOS, shooting down 1 torpedo and adding +10 (5 base, +5 for 2 DOS)
The Squad gets: 81! Nothing!
The Colossus fires turrets: 76! Nada!
Five Torpedoes Hit! 2, 0, 6, 0 damage! This does no damage, but it means 2 Hit and Run attacks happen! The hit and runs get 1 DOF and 1 DOS, while the resistance gets way, way, way more fail and 3 DOS. One hit and run is rebuffed, but the other does 3 crew, 3 morale, and knocks out the sensors (-30 to hit)
ROUND TWO!
The Tachyon's Demise comes to a new heading: 27 makes for 2 DOS, allowing them to turn after moving 3 VU...the captain drops running silent to get +1 DOS, allowing him to bring the prow to bear on the Vile JUST in time. TORPEDOES AWAY: 13 to hit with a 80% (they're getting +20 for attacking from surprise) chance means 7 DOS - SIX torpedo hits! 98 on point defense: NONE SHOT DOWN!!!
11, 7, 12, 5, 10 and 12 damage! The Vile is CRIPPLED!
The Colossus cuts across the Revenge's prow and brings herself into formation. She then attempts to rig a new auspex out, but fails. with her bombers at the ready, she dispatches them with 5 fighters for escort and Ryia in the lead - angling for the nearest Rak'Gol ship. They come within 10,000 kilometers of the Blackguard but then are INTERCEPTED 3 squadrons of Rak'Gol Bloodflayer Multipurpose Assault Craft!
FIGHTER BATTLE!
Ryia makes her 67% piloting check versus a Rak'Gol pilot commander with a 34%. She rolls 6 (!) DOS versus their standard success! She shoots down THREE Rak'Gol Bloodflayers single handed and adds +20 to her pilots
Her Pilots roll 27 versus a whopping 107% (every 2 bombers adds +5 to their support, lol) and the Rak'Gol squad rolls a 37 versus their rating of 34% - a flat fail. The enemy combat void patrol is wiped from space in a matter of minutes.
The Revenge puts herself ahead of the Colossus and brings her broadside to bear at long range, firing upon the Blackguard, getting no hits!
The northern squadron continues forward, the Abominable clearing an asteroid in its path. The Loathsome, being unable to turn, cannot bring her prow lance to bear, nor her prowl Howler guns. However, the Abominable and the Hateful begin to let fly at extreme range on the Revenge. The majority misses, save for a single well aimed salvo that hits with 6 Howler hits. 1 is absorbed by the shields, leaving 5 hits that do, IN TOTAL...ONE DAMAGE. THEY CAN'T PENETRATE OUR HULLS! The Loathesome attempts a repair and fails. It is continuing forward
The Disgust, Destructive and Xenocide rush forward - clearing the asteroid before them, save for the Xenocide, which takes minimal damage as it scrapes it. They cut through the cruiser formation and bear up, right into the Scourge formation. Their dorsals and prows rake the Revenge and the Colossus! They let fly with an extraordinary amount of firepower and do, in total...1 damage apiece.
The Blackguard cuts speed by half and attempts to reduce further. Instead, it and the Loathesome fail to evade one another and the Blackguard SMASHES INTO THE LOATHESOME and both take 8 damage. The Blackguard rebounds backwards and the rest of the squadron becomes completely befouled upon their own formation and rebounds, again and again! Even the crippled Vile manages to plow into her fellow ship. The Vile, while trying to turn aside, smashes her own mainsail and is dismasted, her speed is now 1. The squadron still brings themselves to bear - the Blackguard and the Terrible move to thread between the Tachyon and the Revenge, while the Vile turns to flee.
ROUND THREE
The Tachyon's Demise, not wanting to ram into this mess, brings herself to half speed, brings her port broadside to bear and fires as she bears on the Disgust: She gets 3 DOS and 4 DOS, for a total of 7 hits! 1 is absorbed by the shields: 0, 6, 2, 0, 1, 0 damage, a pretty good hit but no critical hits no massive damage. Her torpedoes reload.
The Colossus comes to a new heading! She gets 2 DOS, letting her move 3 VU, then turn, then move 2 VU, then turn! She also rolls for flank speed and gets +2 VU speed! So, she moves 5 VU, turns, 2 VU, turns! She begins to loop for a nova cannon shot! Then the bomber wing comes in for the attack on the Blackguard, at last!
BOMBER ATTACK!
Ryia makes her 67% check and gets 2 DOS - she blows up a turret and provides +10% to the roll!
The bombers roll: 30 (Ryia's command), +45 for extra bombers, +10 for fighter support, +10 for Ryia's help, +5 for bridge, +2 for Craft Rating, for a total of 102%! They roll...28! 8 DOS versus hte enemy's 40+20 (for turrets) - 50 (for fighters) for a total of 10%! They got 85! No fighters, no bombers shot down, and 8 fucking hits, EIGHT HITS! 1, 6, 6, 4, 8, 7, 7, 3 damage! AND they damage the dorsal guns! The Blackguard is CRIPPLED and has LOST HER MAINSAIL!
The Revenge swings around and gets bloeful macrobroadside on the Disgust - and with her shields still up, fires the lances on the Blackguard. One miss...ONE HIT! The Blackguard is brought to -10 hull and her MAGAZINE GOES UP!
The central squadron goes! The Xenocide barely manages to dodge the Loahtesome as it continues to barrel towards Chorda's Folly! The Loathesome DOES NOT repair their rudder. Oh dear. The Abomination and the Hateful come around, trying to get into the REvenge's aft. They are now at nearly short range and once again, their best attempts prove futile!
The northern squadron goes! They come in, close hauled, into a tight formation with their heavies and begin to fire their guns in staggered patterns, trying to suppress the shields and the turrets. It does little, but then the torpedoes launch: 4 for the Revenge, 2 for the Colossus! None get through the CVP and turrets!
The Terrible, the only survivor of the southern squadron, comes into the Revenge's aft and rakes her with 8 hits, getting 1 crit and set her upper port broadside on fire!
ROUND FOUR!
The Tacyhon puts the fire out with minimal loss of life, then comes to a new heading, but fails. She vanishes into the dust cloud...
The Colossus continues her sweep and directs her 10 bombers to the void again, targeting the Terrible. She's close enough that Ryia can just lead them right in!
BOMBER ATTACK!
Ryia makes her 67% check and gets 22! 4 DOS, she shoots up 2 turrets and gives +15 to the roll!
The bombers, in totes, have a 107% shot and get 31%! 7 DOS! 7 hits and a crit, but the crit does not MATTER, the enemy ship is HULKED! The southern squadron is NO MORE
The Revenge brings herself around, falling into the aft of the Colossus. She fires as she bears on the Disgust, the leading Rak'Gol frigate. She gets 1 DOS on the macros, which sweep her shields aside, then 19 on the Lances: 4 DOS, for a total of a crit and 3 hits and sets their prow guns onfire! The Disgust is heavily damaged!
The Central Formation goes! The Loathesome, completing her two hour pleasure cruise, hits the planetary surface and adds a very large, merry crater. The Hateful and the Abomination come into the Revenge's Aft (the Abomination narrowly avoiding plowing through the Disgust). They open fire with their guns and lances: They once more have just...the worst gunnery. Some radbeams do get soaked up by the shields!
The Disgust tries to decelerate but fails to reef their mainsail and smashes their OWN AUSEPXES apart on the side of the Hateful. The Destructive and Xenocide sweep past the Revenge and come up on her larboard side, the Xenocide close enough to attempt boarding, but the REvenge is too nimble to be so EASILY caught!
ROUND FIVE
The Tachyon, having vanished from scopes again, continues her sweep.
The Colossus flies into the dust cloud, trying to complete its loop. The fighters and bombers come in, refuel, and then streak out again. The Xenocide is in range, so the Xenocide is gonna get FUCKED
BOMBER ATTACK!
Ryia makes her 67% check and rolls a 79 - not enough to put her in danger, but not helping!
The bombers, in total, have 97% and get 28 to their hit, doing 7 DOS. However, the turrets get a 10, and just Barely manage to damage 1 fighter squadron. Make a note of that for later! And the Xenocide is HULKED!!!
The Revenge comes to a new heading and barely succeeds! She can turn twice. She comes up on the Colossus aft, and is just barely out of hte dust cloud. With a -20 to hit due to their wild jinking, they fire on the heavily damaged Disgust! Shockingly, THEY HIT, even with a -30 on the macros and -20 on the lance (the macros re at long range.) That's pops the shields, then brings the Disgust down to -13 hull and DETONTES HER WARP CORE. THe lightning almost hits the Revenge, but she dodges!
Then the vortex eats the Abominable and the Hateful
The last surviving ship - the Destructive - begins to flee.
ROUND SIX
The imperials move back into a stable orbit and just watch the fireworks. Ryia and crew attack once, crippling the Destructive
ROUND SEVEN
Refresh for the fighters
ROUND EIGHT
The destructive attempts to disengage and does so. They enter warp space.
Colossus: 10
Revenge: 6
Central Squadron: 5
Northern Squadron: 4
Southern Squadron: 3
ROUND ONE
The Tachyon's Demise comes to a new heading while silent running: 47 with a FP (4/6) allowing her to turn 1 VU earlier. She swings south, with the dust cloud between her and the Rak'Gol. While several ships are in range, she doesn't fire.
The Colossus adjusts speed: 17! 4 DOS, adding +4 speed! She pulls 9 VU ahead of the Rak'Gol fleet, narrowly evading the asteroid she clears. She begins to bring her nose around and launches her squadrons: 10 fighters to CVP their ship and begins prepping to launch 10 bombers.
Revenge: Comes to a new bearing, fails, moves forward at half speed. The enemy are out of her range.
The Central Squadron comes dead on. The Rak'Gol Light Cruiser designated Loathesome tries to clip an asteroid but fails and drags her armor along the side, taking a serious blow that carries away a spar and damages her rudder. She cannot turn. The Loathesome, Hateful, and Abominable all barely have their lances in range and get three misses. They then scramble their fighters for combat void patrol, putting 6 squads of Bloodflayers into the void.
The Northern squadron comes through the dust cloud and bring their prows to bear. Their Howlers are out of range, save for the prow and dorsal howlers on the Disgust. The Disgust opens fire and misses with their full salvo. The Colossus remains undaunted. Then the Northern Squadron fires their torpedoes! As all are within 10 VU, the torpedoes reach the Colossus in waves!
FIGHTER INTERCEPT
5 Fighters means +20 (1 makes the attack, +5 for each supporting), +12 for the attack value, +5 for the bridge.
BUT FIRST: Ryia makes a 67% piloting check...
So, Ryia has gotten 5 DOS! She personally shoots down TWO torpedoes, and adds +15 (5 base, +5 for 2 DOS, +5 for 4 DOS) to the roll, which is a 45, for a total of 82%, so 4 DOS, so, yeah, that's all the torps! Good job Ryia!
The Southern Squadron comes into the sourthern dust field, and brings their prows to bear on the Colossus. They open fire with their dorsal and prow guns and, with SIX shots, get 1 fucking DOS, which does get them 2 hits, which aren't enough to batter through the Colossus' Shields. ...then they fire their six torpedoes
FIGHTER INTERCEPT
Ryia makes her 67% piloting check and gets 2 DOS, shooting down 1 torpedo and adding +10 (5 base, +5 for 2 DOS)
The Squad gets: 81! Nothing!
The Colossus fires turrets: 76! Nada!
Five Torpedoes Hit! 2, 0, 6, 0 damage! This does no damage, but it means 2 Hit and Run attacks happen! The hit and runs get 1 DOF and 1 DOS, while the resistance gets way, way, way more fail and 3 DOS. One hit and run is rebuffed, but the other does 3 crew, 3 morale, and knocks out the sensors (-30 to hit)
ROUND TWO!
The Tachyon's Demise comes to a new heading: 27 makes for 2 DOS, allowing them to turn after moving 3 VU...the captain drops running silent to get +1 DOS, allowing him to bring the prow to bear on the Vile JUST in time. TORPEDOES AWAY: 13 to hit with a 80% (they're getting +20 for attacking from surprise) chance means 7 DOS - SIX torpedo hits! 98 on point defense: NONE SHOT DOWN!!!
11, 7, 12, 5, 10 and 12 damage! The Vile is CRIPPLED!
The Colossus cuts across the Revenge's prow and brings herself into formation. She then attempts to rig a new auspex out, but fails. with her bombers at the ready, she dispatches them with 5 fighters for escort and Ryia in the lead - angling for the nearest Rak'Gol ship. They come within 10,000 kilometers of the Blackguard but then are INTERCEPTED 3 squadrons of Rak'Gol Bloodflayer Multipurpose Assault Craft!
FIGHTER BATTLE!
Ryia makes her 67% piloting check versus a Rak'Gol pilot commander with a 34%. She rolls 6 (!) DOS versus their standard success! She shoots down THREE Rak'Gol Bloodflayers single handed and adds +20 to her pilots
Her Pilots roll 27 versus a whopping 107% (every 2 bombers adds +5 to their support, lol) and the Rak'Gol squad rolls a 37 versus their rating of 34% - a flat fail. The enemy combat void patrol is wiped from space in a matter of minutes.
The Revenge puts herself ahead of the Colossus and brings her broadside to bear at long range, firing upon the Blackguard, getting no hits!
The northern squadron continues forward, the Abominable clearing an asteroid in its path. The Loathsome, being unable to turn, cannot bring her prow lance to bear, nor her prowl Howler guns. However, the Abominable and the Hateful begin to let fly at extreme range on the Revenge. The majority misses, save for a single well aimed salvo that hits with 6 Howler hits. 1 is absorbed by the shields, leaving 5 hits that do, IN TOTAL...ONE DAMAGE. THEY CAN'T PENETRATE OUR HULLS! The Loathesome attempts a repair and fails. It is continuing forward
The Disgust, Destructive and Xenocide rush forward - clearing the asteroid before them, save for the Xenocide, which takes minimal damage as it scrapes it. They cut through the cruiser formation and bear up, right into the Scourge formation. Their dorsals and prows rake the Revenge and the Colossus! They let fly with an extraordinary amount of firepower and do, in total...1 damage apiece.
The Blackguard cuts speed by half and attempts to reduce further. Instead, it and the Loathesome fail to evade one another and the Blackguard SMASHES INTO THE LOATHESOME and both take 8 damage. The Blackguard rebounds backwards and the rest of the squadron becomes completely befouled upon their own formation and rebounds, again and again! Even the crippled Vile manages to plow into her fellow ship. The Vile, while trying to turn aside, smashes her own mainsail and is dismasted, her speed is now 1. The squadron still brings themselves to bear - the Blackguard and the Terrible move to thread between the Tachyon and the Revenge, while the Vile turns to flee.
ROUND THREE
The Tachyon's Demise, not wanting to ram into this mess, brings herself to half speed, brings her port broadside to bear and fires as she bears on the Disgust: She gets 3 DOS and 4 DOS, for a total of 7 hits! 1 is absorbed by the shields: 0, 6, 2, 0, 1, 0 damage, a pretty good hit but no critical hits no massive damage. Her torpedoes reload.
The Colossus comes to a new heading! She gets 2 DOS, letting her move 3 VU, then turn, then move 2 VU, then turn! She also rolls for flank speed and gets +2 VU speed! So, she moves 5 VU, turns, 2 VU, turns! She begins to loop for a nova cannon shot! Then the bomber wing comes in for the attack on the Blackguard, at last!
BOMBER ATTACK!
Ryia makes her 67% check and gets 2 DOS - she blows up a turret and provides +10% to the roll!
The bombers roll: 30 (Ryia's command), +45 for extra bombers, +10 for fighter support, +10 for Ryia's help, +5 for bridge, +2 for Craft Rating, for a total of 102%! They roll...28! 8 DOS versus hte enemy's 40+20 (for turrets) - 50 (for fighters) for a total of 10%! They got 85! No fighters, no bombers shot down, and 8 fucking hits, EIGHT HITS! 1, 6, 6, 4, 8, 7, 7, 3 damage! AND they damage the dorsal guns! The Blackguard is CRIPPLED and has LOST HER MAINSAIL!
The Revenge swings around and gets bloeful macrobroadside on the Disgust - and with her shields still up, fires the lances on the Blackguard. One miss...ONE HIT! The Blackguard is brought to -10 hull and her MAGAZINE GOES UP!
The central squadron goes! The Xenocide barely manages to dodge the Loahtesome as it continues to barrel towards Chorda's Folly! The Loathesome DOES NOT repair their rudder. Oh dear. The Abomination and the Hateful come around, trying to get into the REvenge's aft. They are now at nearly short range and once again, their best attempts prove futile!
The northern squadron goes! They come in, close hauled, into a tight formation with their heavies and begin to fire their guns in staggered patterns, trying to suppress the shields and the turrets. It does little, but then the torpedoes launch: 4 for the Revenge, 2 for the Colossus! None get through the CVP and turrets!
The Terrible, the only survivor of the southern squadron, comes into the Revenge's aft and rakes her with 8 hits, getting 1 crit and set her upper port broadside on fire!
ROUND FOUR!
The Tacyhon puts the fire out with minimal loss of life, then comes to a new heading, but fails. She vanishes into the dust cloud...
The Colossus continues her sweep and directs her 10 bombers to the void again, targeting the Terrible. She's close enough that Ryia can just lead them right in!
BOMBER ATTACK!
Ryia makes her 67% check and gets 22! 4 DOS, she shoots up 2 turrets and gives +15 to the roll!
The bombers, in totes, have a 107% shot and get 31%! 7 DOS! 7 hits and a crit, but the crit does not MATTER, the enemy ship is HULKED! The southern squadron is NO MORE
The Revenge brings herself around, falling into the aft of the Colossus. She fires as she bears on the Disgust, the leading Rak'Gol frigate. She gets 1 DOS on the macros, which sweep her shields aside, then 19 on the Lances: 4 DOS, for a total of a crit and 3 hits and sets their prow guns onfire! The Disgust is heavily damaged!
The Central Formation goes! The Loathesome, completing her two hour pleasure cruise, hits the planetary surface and adds a very large, merry crater. The Hateful and the Abomination come into the Revenge's Aft (the Abomination narrowly avoiding plowing through the Disgust). They open fire with their guns and lances: They once more have just...the worst gunnery. Some radbeams do get soaked up by the shields!
The Disgust tries to decelerate but fails to reef their mainsail and smashes their OWN AUSEPXES apart on the side of the Hateful. The Destructive and Xenocide sweep past the Revenge and come up on her larboard side, the Xenocide close enough to attempt boarding, but the REvenge is too nimble to be so EASILY caught!
ROUND FIVE
The Tachyon, having vanished from scopes again, continues her sweep.
The Colossus flies into the dust cloud, trying to complete its loop. The fighters and bombers come in, refuel, and then streak out again. The Xenocide is in range, so the Xenocide is gonna get FUCKED
BOMBER ATTACK!
Ryia makes her 67% check and rolls a 79 - not enough to put her in danger, but not helping!
The bombers, in total, have 97% and get 28 to their hit, doing 7 DOS. However, the turrets get a 10, and just Barely manage to damage 1 fighter squadron. Make a note of that for later! And the Xenocide is HULKED!!!
The Revenge comes to a new heading and barely succeeds! She can turn twice. She comes up on the Colossus aft, and is just barely out of hte dust cloud. With a -20 to hit due to their wild jinking, they fire on the heavily damaged Disgust! Shockingly, THEY HIT, even with a -30 on the macros and -20 on the lance (the macros re at long range.) That's pops the shields, then brings the Disgust down to -13 hull and DETONTES HER WARP CORE. THe lightning almost hits the Revenge, but she dodges!
Then the vortex eats the Abominable and the Hateful
The last surviving ship - the Destructive - begins to flee.
ROUND SIX
The imperials move back into a stable orbit and just watch the fireworks. Ryia and crew attack once, crippling the Destructive
ROUND SEVEN
Refresh for the fighters
ROUND EIGHT
The destructive attempts to disengage and does so. They enter warp space.
- Location
- USA
......They're one and the same?
- Pronouns
- He/Him
do you really think Em's teenage child of as of yet undetermined gender identity would fall far from the tree? their parents are Em, Tine and Ryia
- Location
- USA
I can see it for June, but when the three left for Damaris, Zephyr was only, what, one year old? And they haven't been back since, have they? I'm not sure how they could've influenced Zephyr to that extent.
Blame June?
10ebbor10
DON'T PANIC
- Location
- Present
They all merged together to form one larger kid.
- Location
- USA
Like the formation of the Whispering God?
Sir_Travelsalot
Never wakes up tired.
- Location
- At Home
[X] Simple Perception Advance (250)
[X] Intermediate Willpower Advance (250)
[X] Warp Sense (500)
[X] Secret Tongue (Underdecks) (300)
[X] Peer (Nobility) (200)
[X] Performer (Singer) (100)
[X] Dark Soul (200)
[X] Nerves of Steel (300)
I tried to balance the advance picks based both on what would be useful and what seemed like it'd be IC for Tine.
[X] Intermediate Willpower Advance (250)
[X] Warp Sense (500)
[X] Secret Tongue (Underdecks) (300)
[X] Peer (Nobility) (200)
[X] Performer (Singer) (100)
[X] Dark Soul (200)
[X] Nerves of Steel (300)
I tried to balance the advance picks based both on what would be useful and what seemed like it'd be IC for Tine.
Alectai
Speaks Words of Wisdom... On occasion
To be fair, this was literally the best possible environment to fight the Rak'Ghouls in. A complex battlespace with lots of room to maneuver and lots of hazards. Combine that with our carrier letting us block most of their ordnance spam and the rest was just a matter of rolling well at the right time.
Also, to be fair, we had a ridiculously overstatted Protagonist leading our interceptors, Rak'Ghouls aren't known for their agility, and while their assault boats play double duty as interceptors, they're not very good at the latter. We just had the right toolkit to screw them as long as we were careful to keep the range and abuse the environment, and once we had strike craft superiority, we could turn that advantage into deleting a ship every sortie.
Oh right, we have to vote too.
[X] Plan: Fully Armed and Operational Battlewaifu
-[X] Strength Basic (250 XP)
-[X] Strength Intermediate (500 XP)
-[X] Weapon Skill Trained (500 XP)
-[X] Talent: Blademaster (500 XP)
-[X] Talent: Die Hard (250 XP)
So, what does this get us?
A) Tine has an effective Strength Bonus of 8, which is to say, "A bare handed blow from her does nearly as much as a lasgun would do to mortal flesh, what ungodly things will happen if she uses that engine of murder that is her sword?"
B) Tine has a Weapon Skill of 60, and rerolls failed rolls
C) Tine doesn't really bleed out even if punched into crits. This is most important.
Also, to be fair, we had a ridiculously overstatted Protagonist leading our interceptors, Rak'Ghouls aren't known for their agility, and while their assault boats play double duty as interceptors, they're not very good at the latter. We just had the right toolkit to screw them as long as we were careful to keep the range and abuse the environment, and once we had strike craft superiority, we could turn that advantage into deleting a ship every sortie.
Oh right, we have to vote too.
[X] Plan: Fully Armed and Operational Battlewaifu
-[X] Strength Basic (250 XP)
-[X] Strength Intermediate (500 XP)
-[X] Weapon Skill Trained (500 XP)
-[X] Talent: Blademaster (500 XP)
-[X] Talent: Die Hard (250 XP)
So, what does this get us?
A) Tine has an effective Strength Bonus of 8, which is to say, "A bare handed blow from her does nearly as much as a lasgun would do to mortal flesh, what ungodly things will happen if she uses that engine of murder that is her sword?"
B) Tine has a Weapon Skill of 60, and rerolls failed rolls
C) Tine doesn't really bleed out even if punched into crits. This is most important.
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- Location
- East of Sun, West of Moon
[X] Plan: Fully Armed and Operational Battlewaifu
... Reminds me; our long-term goal is to buy and refit a Ramillies star-fort, right?
Because nothing says 'extravagance' as your very own Warp-capable space fortress, complete with enough facilities to both service a fleet and supply a crusade.
... Reminds me; our long-term goal is to buy and refit a Ramillies star-fort, right?
Because nothing says 'extravagance' as your very own Warp-capable space fortress, complete with enough facilities to both service a fleet and supply a crusade.
samdamandias
Apprentice Plane Wizard
Fury-001 needed a gunner.
(And for maximum effectiveness, a navigator/co-pilot, an astropath, and an enginseer, but those are for long patrols, you can frequently get by with just pilot and gunner)
[X] Plan: Fully Armed and Operational Battlewaifu
- Location
- Under a cat
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Well, that explains why they had a bolt pistol. I was wondering how a random officer got such a rare weapon.
- Pronouns
- He/Him
tbf, distinguishing between June and Zeph as which is "actually" Em, Tine and Ryia's kids isn't super worth it!
- Location
- Virginia
[X] Plan: Fully Armed and Operational Battlewaifu
F0lkL0re
Officially not an Inquisitor
- Location
- Shetland
I see Em has changed his opinion on carriers since that dinner at Footfall.