tankdrop24
Tread First into Hell
- Location
- The Center of the Universe: Toronto, Canada
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Morte Empire, Reichswehrmacht Kriegsflotte 101st
Outer Rim of the Londo System
[Musical Theme]
The 101st under Führer Kommandant Reiner von Stahltod did the unthinkable and attacked the Coalition fleet from over a hundred astronomical units. Such methods were deemed practical only against stationary and lightly defended targets but even if temporarily but the enemy's situation allowed for just that. The first shots were fired and Reiner was awaiting the results. "28.75% of the shots were on target or hit enemy vessels. Enemy numbers are down by 16.25%!" Reported Ensign Dovac. Compared to the fact this was just a single volley the effects were massive. Still, Reiner expected much more. The Morte Navy never aim sloppily. All shots were perfectly on target yet less then half of them hit. What happened? Reiner had a strong suspicion why and asked Dovac about further details. "Ensign, report on the Battlecarrier, Target Alpha." "Right on it, Herr Kommandant. Lächerlich! Target Alpha received only 27.8% of the shots, shields were penetrated but target only suffered moderate damage! I can't make sense out of this data! Shall I run a maintenance check on the sensors?" Dovac voiced his surprise but Reiner quickly halted him. "No need. The readings must be right. Awfully so." That did it. Reiner was now certain. 10 years seemed to be more than enough for the Coalition to upgrade their computers and auto-evasion systems. Normally such ultra long range bombardment would be an 'out of the box' issue for automated systems but if it weren't 3.7 seconds would be far more enough for the maneuvering thrusters controlled via pre-programmed parameters to avoid an attack. That, combined with the fact even the Morte's famous compressed antimatter beam cannons disperse over such extreme distances that they inflicted much less casualties than expected.
Following the first strike the enemy rapidly adjusted their tactics and actively evaded. Save for the uncomfortably thick formation and chaos, the hit success parameters returned to the standard over such extreme ranges, being abysmal. After multiple volleys they only managed to destroy 3 corvettes and probably only because they were already damaged. Still, so long they can keep pressuring them the situation was salvageable. "Herr Kommandant, the Coalition fleet opened a jump gate, they are heading for jump space!" Dovac reported. "All stations! Edge sensors for jump-space exits! Prepare to repeat Strike Alpha 122 pattern or its derivatives immediately if the conditions are met!" Reiner's conclusion was that the enemy was preparing for a tactical micro-jump. Of course while searching for the jump-space exit the Imperial Morte Fleet did not neglect their bombardment at all. Still, with such a long hit-lag and because the Coalition conducted their march into the jump gate orderily they barely scored any hit. After 14 seconds the entire Coalition fleet disappeared into jump-space. "Status report! Have you determined the enemy's exit point yet?"Reiner ordered his crew. The enemy could be appearing any second now! "No response on our sensor net!" Dovac reported. "No reports on this side, either!" Comms officer Karl Meyer also had nothing to say, either.
The entire situation was strange. "May I, Führer Kommandant?" Asked Vice Admiral Alexander Stubbs, his first officer. "Speak." Reiner gave his permission. "I think we don't need to concern ourselves with the Coalition any longer. It's been over a minute and we can't detect any jump-out signs. This means they've fled the system and abandoned their comrades. Cowardly lot!" Stubbs spat on the floor with disgust. His family was from a long line of aristocrats originating from the Lehm System. He was known to be a prideful and brave militaryman. "Indeed, that's the most logical conclusion. The Alliance rats frequently show cowardice in face of unlikely odds. But regretfully we were not pushing them that far. Not yet, Mr. Stubbs. My instincts are telling me there's something else going on." Reiner told him so. Unfortunately, unlike with hyperspace, they possessed no buoys to directly scan jumpspace. Their knowledge on jumpspace was merely superficial and was based on battlefield observation reports. The best they could do to scan for categorical spacetime and gravity fluctuations to predict jumpspace exits shortly before they actually appear. "Führer Kommandant, I still suggest to cancel alert status and switch back to general search." "Right, please do so. Also order to change the torpedoes' heading against the other two fleets via tachyon telemetry. Speaking of which, Blitz Platoon A and B are almost in place, aren't they?"
Morte Empire Reichswehrmacht Kriegsflotte 101st
Provisiorish Kampfsflottile "Blitz A"
Outer sections of the Londo System
A platoon of 14 Morte starship were traveling at Warp 2, following the imaginary curvature of the Londo system on the "left". The platoon was composed of the new Hameln-class attack frigates that were developed during the ceasefire. They employ technologies from the Tännhauser and a few unique concepts, creating an advanced and lightweight starship which is fast, cheap and has the firepower of a cruiser. Their main firepower are 4 beam arrays that are integrated with the ship's sensor domes. Each array mounts a set of two beam cannons that can traverse in a hemispheric zone thus providing excellent coverage. Its only front-mounted weapon is the torpedo tube which can be used even during low-warp travel. Their level of maneuverability was previously unheard of which complimented the usually slow and methodolical Morte fleets surprisingly well. The trade-off was massive reduction in armor and lessened combat endurance. Hameln-class mainly used boron-nitride nanotubes and energy-absorbing gel layers, only using a thin durasteel net main body to reinforce the hull's integrity. It offered less than 1/10th protection compared to an old Richtenburg-class Frigate, not to mention cruisers or battleships. Effectively the ship's only true defense was its gravity shield which was comparable to a cruiser in power. Unfortunately powerful reactors also consumed fuel faster and the Hameln-class only had the antimatter storage of a frigate. This lead to endurance issues on a long-term. Yet altogether these deficiencies only reinforced the Hameln-class' role as a fast skirmisher.
Starship "Lübreck III", Rear Admiral Schneizer von Scharfschweige's ship. He was the commander of the provisionary "Blitz Platoon A", an independent unit that traveled light-days away from the main fleet. The platoon just finished reaching behind the enemy's position when they received new orders, relayed by the communications officer Ensign Zilch "Hailing frequency from flagship Tännhauser. It's a direct order from Führer Kommandant Reiner von Stahltod. It says, Execute Alpha Strike Pattern 961A at the following coordinates." As punctual as always, the Führer Kommandant gave his order to attack exactly at the right time. The order and related tactical info was processed and then sent straight to the the Rear Admiral's command console. The plan was simple and even somewhat reckless but undoubtedly part of a larger fleet maneuver. Due to security reasons the Rear Admiral only got his portion of the plan but his gut feeling was telling as such.
[Musical Theme]
@BobTheNinja
"All vessels! Prepare for warp jump in 14 seconds according to the new coordinates." Schneizer relayed these commands strictly via laser signals to prevent information leak. Warp jump was a misleading term. Warp drives did not create "portals" into another dimension to traverse interstellar distances but instead distorted spacetime to allow ships to seemingly pass the light-barrier in real-space. Maneuvering in real space at such speeds was extremely difficult thus it was common for Morte ships to travel in a completely straight line during tactical warp-ins. Instead of a "jump" a better comparison would be a straight bullrush maneuver performed at speeds much faster than the speed of light. Basically the starship catapults itself at high-warp to a set direction and ceases warp at a precisely calculated time. That was what they referred as "warp jump".
Exactly 14 seconds pass and the Blitz A Platoon suddenly disappears from their original position. Traveling in a straight line at high-warp speed they pass tens of astronomical units before they decelerate roughly behind the Commonwealth fleet, positioned about 25 million kilometers away. The transit took about 12 seconds to complete. Using extreme magnification with their hypertelescopes Rear Admiral Schneizer von Scharfschweige was met with the warm sight of the enemy's main thrusters. "All hands, open fire! Target the enemy's main propulsion!" Ordered Schneider and in a few seconds the 14 Hameln-class fighters of the Blitz A Platoon began a full-on attack. 112 condensed antimatter beams traveled towards various targets, primarily aiming at the presumably unprotected insides of the main propulsion units. Commonwealth ships are known to possess no shield in the classical sense, instead they are protected by an active armor spies reported to be called as "Hypermesh". The drawback of armor versus shields was always that armor has weak points. And while untested the propulsion units of the Commonwealth ships seemed to be the most likely candidates. The exhausted propellant may be deflecting part of the beam power but their energy is much more focused so they're ough to penetrate. Otherwise most of the Coalition ship had armors that almost rivaled Dreadnoughs and their best ships are rightfully clasified as super dreadnoughts. Defeating these with just a few cruiser-firepower vessels seemed like a futile effort otherwise. Regardless Schneizer had to keep the Commonwealth occupied. The other platoon was counting on them.
Morte Empire Reichswehrmacht Kriegsflotte 101st
Provisiorish Kampfsflottile "Blitz B"
Opposite side of the Londo System
Around the same time the attack frigate "Haifischer Zwei" received new orders. It also said to execute Alpha Strike Pattern 961B but to different coordinates and with a few double encoded instructions. Rear Admiral Schwen von Schwindler quickly decoded the message and reading it drew a smirk over his face. Using direct laser transmission he filed the following orders. "All stations prepare for Warp Jump! Target the filed coordinates and time it exactly at the appointed moment! Follow the rest of the instructions while initiating combat!" It stated. Not even eleven seconds later the Blitz B Platoon disappeared from their current coordinates.
Not even a few seconds later the 14 frigates of the Blitz B Platoon warped out roughly 30 million kilometers away from the main ESF fleet. They were positioned outside the range of any vessel but still well within the range to use their own antimatter beam arrays in battle. The 32 Loan Fleet and the Blitz B platoon were at two different directions, an imaginary incision between their headings equating to exactly 90 degrees. It was planned attack, plain obvious to anyone. They appeared to support the Trade Federation and prevent the ESF to effectively concentrate their forces. Each frigate was roughly positioned 100,000km away from each other, more than enough to perform maneuvers at Warp 1.1! They spared no time and while maintaining their volley the Blitz B Platoon was already maneuvering towards the backs of the ESF Fleet, attacking them where they're the most vulnerable. Ignoring them was not an option and that's why the ESF forces were going to lose. They were the anvil and the Trade Federation was the hammer, delivering crushing firepower!
Londo System
Interplanetary Space
The Commonwealth's swarm of anti-ship missiles continued to speed towards the outer rim of Londo System, estimated to reach the heart of the Morte Fleet in less than 5 minutes. 3000 multi-stage thermonuclear shaped charge arranged in 3 waves. In response the Morte launched their interceptors, exactly 1464 of them. Their numbers seemed to be unusually small yet they were at least 8 times in abundance. The answer lied within their design. They were the newest "Beehive" type filled with a gravitic detonator and 300 trillion superdense durasteel balls each only being a micron in diameter. The missiles accelerated until they reached high sub-light velocity and then the uneven but precisely calibrated pulses of the gravitic wave explosive disperse them to all directions, at optimum range saturating everything in 300km radius with a gap roughly equaling 1cm2 everywhere. It was a cheap yet wicked weapon designed specifically against swarms of unarmored targets. The durability and extreme heat capacity of durasteel allows them to be accelerated to hundreds or even thousands of km/s which kept them cool and unharmed even after the gravitic waves disperse them. The system's only drawback was range. Even if relatively light the missiles require considerable distance to range full speed and then similarly long distance to disperse the micro-pellets to sufficient distance. Late dispersion was possible and produces much more intense concentration of pellets but they'd be still performing far worse than "Stinger" type kinetic kill interceptors. Dispersing a large "cloud" of pellet at optimal density was its specialty and only supposed role. That was the purpose of the "Beehive" interceptor and this version was the new SIV-663 "Beehive IX", an improvement in many aspects over the "Beehive VIII" used during the First Dominion War.
The enemy designed their hasty counter-interception tactic based on the old "Beehive VIII", the one with pellets over 5 times the "Beehive IX" in diameter. This proved to be a grave source of miscalculation. The thermonuclear warheads of the larger anti-ship missiles were almost thousand times more powerful than the entire kinetic energy of the Morte interceptors. But once dispersed into tiny pellets this equation changed for the worse. Hundred thermonuclear shaped charges detonated from just 2 kilometers, sending out concentrated radiation and jets of vaporized material in a narrow arc. Against the "Beehive VIII" this should've been far more than sufficient to vaporize the pellets and neutralize their momentum but the "Beehive IX" had micropellets 25 times smaller in surface area. This easily broke the precisely calculated counterattack and worse, the partially deformed micropellets became even more dangerous, increasing the damage they could deal considerably. The Commonwealth also committed a second mistake. Basing their calculation on the older Beehive model and associated tactics they assumed the micropellets to approach like a huge invisible screen. The Morte further refined their tactics and added with the Beehive IX's greater coverage and multiple launch positions they deployed a 3-dimensional "cage" of micropellets, coming from almost every direction at once to cut off all means of breakthrough or escape. This event may serve as a good lesson for future Commonwealth commanders...given if they see the light of the next day.
Morte Empire, Reichswehrmacht Kriegsflotte 101st
Flaggschiff Tännhauser
Outer Rim of the Londo System
@Jack Hansan
"Blitz Platoons A and B had warped out successfully, they combined with the 32nd Loan Fleet are already engaging the enemy." Reported Karl Meyer from the comms. So far the situation seemed to be under the Morte's control. Unless a rapid change occurs on the battlefield, the Dominion's victory was set in stone. The Führer Kommandant knew this. The first officer knew this. Almost everyone in the Morte Fleet knew this. Yet for some reason Reiner von Stahltod felt uneasy. The combat instincts of the elderly veteran were telling him it was way too early to celebrate. Way too early to tell if they succeed. And way too early to tell if these are all the enemies they'll be fighting today. New players could enter the field anytime. Old players could return. Actually he was just waiting for the comeback of one of the previous enemies, Sensor nets spread and ready and the fleet crew is subtly in alert.
[Musical Theme]
"Führer Kommandant, gravity wave compression detected. It's an outgoing jump event! Heading is almost exactly 12'o clock! Distance is only 120 kilometers. Estimated time till the gate opening: 24 seconds!" Reported the chief sensory officer Ensign Dovac who recently took over the monitoring of the counter-jump detection grid. "Hm, so they've come. All vessels, red alert! Halt your advance and align positions to match the gate coordinates! Prepare for Alpha Strike Pattern 120G!" Reiner ordered immediately. The whole fleet was in full combat readiness so by the time the gate would begin to form the entire Morte main fleet would be prepared to welcome the bold attackers. Reiner von Stahltod was nearly certain of the enemy's identity. "Redshift phenomenon detected. Forming gate identified as an outgoing Coalition jump-point!" Thus he got the confirmation. The Coalition fleet presumed by some to have left the battlefield was in the process of re-emerging for a bold ambush.
As the Dominion painfully learned the jump points of the Coalition are strictly one way. Incoming jump points welcome bradyonic particles and thus show a blueshift phenomenon. Outgoing jump points expel bradyonic matter and reject them to enter, showing redshift phenomenon. But what happens with object that enter while being faster than light? Several combat situations during the First Dominion War had already shown the answer. Tachyon waves had already penetrated into jumpspace, for now only feeding the ships junk data on the chaotic torrents of this realm. Beam banks were charged to maximum, beyond standard combat level. Torpedo tubes had their warheads armed and Warp Catapults at the ready. All weaponry was timed to fire just a moment before the jump point stabilizes to send out their payload of antimatter warheads and beams as soon as possible. Tachyon radars were showing multiple large masses approaching at relatively slow speed. That was their trick. By slowing down their advance through jumpspace they almost made the Imperial Morte Fleet believe they've fled the battlefield. But that was it. Hundreds of years ago Reiner's ancestors may had called this a brilliant tactic but the age of the hyperspace scare was long gone.
Like a torrent of red the wormhole connecting real and jump space was about to take a definite form. The Tännhauser angled its gravity fields to the front and spread the furthest layer to 50km from the ship, ready for its first moments of actual combat. Tachyon radars could still not pin-point the enemy's exact location but the ships could already have enough data to initiate their attack. All they needed just a few moments. By this time none of the human crews could do anything. Weapons charged, coordinates are set. All they could hope that their calculations were correct and the fire control computers are perfectly operational, timing their attack when needed. The 24th second and in matter of split-seconds all ships fire in an inverse rhyme. The first volley was sent by the outermost ships 289 light-seconds away. Due to the faster-than-light nature of the beam cannons and warp catapults, these didn't take even 1/01th of a second to reach the jump gate's mouth. Torpedoes were calibrated for their warp acceleration last just until they bypass the outgoing jump point. Following that they continued their path under standard engines, detecting the enemy and correcting their course straight to them. Their shielding allowed the torpedoes to take much punishment which might be necessary because unmanned or not these were the very first Morte vehicles to ever navigate within jumpspace. Meanwhile the beam cannons aimed as precisely as they could, trying to score direct hits. All ships performed their attack following a similar pattern but different timing. The whole fleet designed their first strike to hit at the exact same time and then continuing their bombardment till it's possible.
Playtime was over.
Between the two enemy fleet's, Cole had no illusions about his chances of victory, or even survival.
Already, another five capital ships (three Battlecruisers, and a pair of Battleships) had been mission killed, along with fifteen other Cruisers, and that number would skyrocket soon no matter what Cole did.
Cole could try to save the lives of his men and surrender, but if the enemy commander had heard of Cole's previous career fighting rebels then there was no way in hell they'd believe any offer of surrender. Plus, he wasn't about to just hand over war materials to the enemy.
Battlegroup India would lose, but they could still make the Dominion pay.
The entire main group turned around, towards the Loan fleet. If any ESF ships were going to escape, they would need the fleet with the ships most likely to chase them down off their backs. While the current fleet lacked the strength to deal lasting damage to the entire Loan fleet, they might be able to disrupt their operations by taking out the enemy fleet's flagship.
It seemed that Loan fleet was preparing for an attack though, they had deployed their forces to Counter MACs and Missiles. That left one weapon they were unprepared for, though, Mega-Particle Cannons. The short range on those weapons would mean that they would have to get close to land a killing blow.
And close they did, as Loan fire sent more and more ships to their grave, the ESF return fire somewhat ineffective, but within minutes, the ESF ships were in Mega-Particle Range, and unleashed lash after lash into the Loan fleet, mostly targeted towards the three largest ships in the Loan fleet.
Meanwhile, the remaining fighter wings soared towards the Morte Frigates. They had been ordered to target the ships' guns, but really, they more mostly there to buy the rest of the fleet some breathing room. It was more or less a suicide mission, but the small craft didn't carry as much crew as the larger ships that would be destroyed if the Frigate were not disrupted.
The Mobile Suits, on the other hand, stuck close to the ships, providing what cover they could against enemy Light Craft.
All and all, it was a death or glory attack, but if India could pull if off, some of them might just live to fight another day.
