CHAPTER THREE: The Cage and the Maw (1.5)
- Pronouns
- He/Him
"What if...the problem with Junie's plan is that it's not crazy enough?" you ask.
Everyone looks your way, including Junie giving you a kinda scowly 'huh' expression. You grin, then stand. "Okay, hear me out...what if we dress up the Revenge's wounds, then act as prizes - the Defiant leads the way, then we dock our prizes with the station...and, well, we also take that time to have the Elysians drill the freemen in some basic combat tactics, and we put them on the Defiant before arriving to spearhead our attack into the port..." You give a wolfish grin as Junie perks up, and Ryia laughs.
"I like it," Em says. "If we hit hard and fast, we might take the port before the monitors can react - and they'll be much easier to deal with long lances..." he nods.
"Assuming you take the port," Ventris grumbles.
"Garrison troopers?" Em asks. "And not even Imperial garrison troopers, but pirate ones? I don't want to jinx ourselves, but I do believe...if we get the ships berthed and can use the cargo holds to get in, we can hit them on a wide flank and take their bridge within an hour."
"I want in," Ryia says.
"Can-" Junie starts, then stops as Em looks at her.
"No, Junie," he says. "A boarding action isn't any place for an officer as young as you." Then he grins. "But...since by the time the repairs are done, you will no longer be under punishment detail...how about this." He clasps his hands, leaning forward. "We'll need someone to oversee the other prizes and ensure that the monitors are dealt with once they strike. Say you stay in the see-eye-see of the Colossus and make sure that all goes well?"
Junie's eyes practically bug out of her head and she beams, sitting up and nodding hurriedly so much that you can't help but giggle.
Oh aye, they'd say ...Vendigroth's taken the Pearl and poked the Ork in the eye, but these are the Ruinous Powers...has he bitten off more than he can chew?
But grumbling does not turn magically into a mutiny and within three weeks, the Revenge is back to her tip to shape and the new crew have been positioned and moved about. Ryia joined you on the bridge of the Defiant as it began to creep its way forward. The bridge had a strangely sterile look to it - because most of the decorations had been chiseled off in a tearing hurry, and tarps had been thrown up to cover what couldn't yet be removed. The whole ship smelled faintly of spices, and your stomach growled faintly. You rubbed your palm against your belly.
"You know we're going to arrive right about when the food starts going short, right?" Ryia mutters.
"I miss steak," you mutter back.
"Heh," Ryia shakes her head.
You have this faint feeling you had been meaning to ask her a question about something - but it had happened so long ago that you couldn't quite remember what it was. Feeling irritated, you sighed and say: "Quite a ship, though."
"Hell of a ship," Ryia says, her voice gloating.
That kind of irrelevant nothingness made up the conversation for the next three days as you crept your way along the narrow orbits of Inequity and came, at last, to the gas giant herself. The huge, banded, ocher world dominated the vist-plates, and the whole bridge thrummed with tension as you watched the moon creep closer and closer and closer. Ryia was fiddling with the hilt of her sword, as if she expected the fighting to start the instant the station was in view. Em stood next to you, already in his power armor. There had been some discussion about trying to secure repairs before attacking, but...well, you weren't sure that your ruse would last past the airlock doors opening and definitely not after the heritechs came aboard to examine what Phi had done to the ship.
"A hundred thousand kilometers, sir," Jessie says, quietly.
Em nods. "Are you ready?" he asks you.
"Yeah," you say, giving him a smile as the vox crackles.
"This is Khorn's Bulwark to Maw, come in Maw."
You pick up the vox. "Hey there, Bulwark," you say, trying to sound utterly gloating. "We pinched some fine corpse-worshiper ships on our raid - extra slaves, extra ships."
"I can see that! Is that...a Lunar?"
"You know it," you say, grinning.
"We owe Voidheart a drink. Is he off with his harem or something?"
You clenched your hand on the vox, remembering that room.
"Yeah, he's a bit busy, we'll vox you back when he's back," you say, trying to not take great visceral pleasure in the memory of watching that bloated corpse getting shoved out of the airlock. The station grew closer and closer - a vast mountain of metal and stone and leering gargoyles that concealed snarls of anti-ship weaponry. Looking it over, you started to feel a growing tension - it was so huge...and the monitors that were orbiting within a few hundred thousand kilometers looked dangerous, deadly. You had expected something like the system defense ships of Damaris that...honestly, you had admired their bravery more than you had really been impressed by their skill. But something in how these ships hung in formation made you feel a prickling worry.
The Defiant berthed and here was the first part of the plan. The Revenge and the Tachyon's Demise and the Colossus were going to berth, each about ten minutes after the other, and all you had to do was fake seal-lock trouble. You even had left some damage on the ship to clue it up. You and Em and Ryia started for the airlocks - and as you walked, the vox crackled.
"Revenge is secure."
You came to your seal lock. Elysians in their heaviest armor, with their heaviest weapons, were racked up. You drew Aria, who hummed faintly with eagerness.
"Tachyon is secure."
There was a sudden buzz over your com - a vox message from the Chaos station.
"HEY! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU PLAYING AT!?" You put your finger to your vox, jerking up.
"What-"
The voice is furious. "There are Imperial IFF sigmata coming from that carrier, her flight decks are stocked! Those bombers are ready to launch! What are you playing at!?"
Em frowns, then jerks his hand in a single motion.
"Happy Saint's Day!" you say, over the vox, as the seal-locks explode inwards and the Elysians open fire and along the entire, seven kilometer long flank of the Defiant a screaming hoard of soldiers rushed out and straight into the station. Your life narrowed, then from the corridor to the few meters ahead of you, packed close with shocked, stunned Chaos reavers - and again and again and again, your sword rising and falling, rising and falling - cutting them down as you rushed forward with your Elysians. But then you realized...there weren't targets after a time. You panted, then voxed to Em: "I think we have them on the run!"
You stepped out into the opening of a vast launch bay, where hundreds of fighters were waiting...and there, you wished you had said nothing at all. Sandbags were thrown up, heavy weapons had been emplaced, and now you weren't facing mere crew. You were facing armed, armored, trained, drilled men and women. Cries of 'FOR THE EMPEROR!' and 'FOR HOUSE SCOURGE!' smashed against 'BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD!" and 'VALL! VALL! VALL!' as a five kilometer long flight deck transformed, instantly, into a swirling frontal line clash. Elysians threw themselves into cover, officers howled orders, Chaos raiders locked bayonets and charges. The world broke down again - into chunks of action, narrow snatches of five, ten minutes where all of reality became nothing but flushing out that hard point, protecting this soldier, securing this flank. Your power armor drew fire, laser bolts and snubrounds pinging off your armor as you led from the front again and again - with the only interruption being a sudden, blinding white flash that cracked in through the huge, shimmering force fields that hemmed in the cargo hold.
You spared a glance...and saw, to your horror, that the entire prow of the Colossus was smoldering, ringed with twin concentric spheres of force, rippling out and away. The ship heeled - and then the shields rippled and detonations began to flare along her sides. Without her being able to be secured, the monitors - moving faster than you had expected - were hemming her in and taking advantage of the fact they could fire on her without threatening their station.
Then...
The world narrowed again.
Flashes of violence. Dragging a freedman militia back into cover as he clutched at the stump of his smoldering leg, begging the Emperor for salvation. Leading five Elysians around a parked container of munitions to flank out a heavily dug in bolter position, opening fire with your maglevs as you came around the corner, blowing Chaos brains into the air as the Elysians poured down laserfire into them. And beyond it all, you could see through first the force field, then the windows as the fight crunched, meter by bloody meter, corridor by bloody corridor, intersection by blood intersection, into the actual internal structure of the ship...the bombers. The fighters. The space beyond the station was dominated by Imperials snubcraft, and they screamed past the station - and their wings darted down onto the monitors, even as the heavy guns of those small ships were turned upon the burning Colossus.
You had reached the second level and paused, panting, to take a swig of water and vox Em. "Have they struck yet?"
"I'd almost accept this bastard's sword once they do," Em says, his voice tight, then, still connected to your vox link. "Redeploy the servitors to section 4-01 and put three squads on junction A and tell them to damn well hold, I don't care how many mutants they throw at them. Tell them that they can die on their own time, today, we all work for the Emperor."
"Aye sir!"
Em, returning to speaking to you, says: "If you can keep the pressure up in the main corridors, we might be able to pull the 3rd platoon out of the fire without any more losses."
You gave a nod, panted, then say right back: "...aye aye, Em."
The world, once more, became a swirl of violence as you led the armsmen, the freedmen, and the Elysians through the main corridor. Tiny chunks of time: Ripping open a bulkhead door with your bare hands and throwing it directly into a charging Chaos mutant, bisecting it completely in half, then leading the Elysians up into the maintenance junction, so they can flank out and destroy a heavy bolter nest...
...running into a woman with two buzzing chainswords, who dodges again and again, laughing as if this is a game, the two of you locked in a duel of sword to sword, blades crackling and buzzing as they met again and again. One of her swords sheered in half, but her other remained secure as she struck glancing blow after glanicng blow until, at last, you leaped backwards at the right second and Biggs, who had been trying to line up a shot, turned her into a spread of red mist with her heavy bolter...
...seeing, through the window on the fourth floor...the Colossus.
The Colossus' port side had a monitor attached to it and multiple entry points cut in. Crew were charging into the Lathe pattern decks - using the openings as a point to enter by...and yet, as the flashes of lasfire and weaponry from those decks were clear through the void, what was also clear was the starboard flank of the massive, proud carrier. There, dozens of Fury and Starhawks were swooping down towards the starboard landing bays, screaming in and dragging themselves to a stop, to be refitted, refueled, and relaunched, to join the swarming of bombers and fighters in the space around the station. The starboard crew were working while hearing the thunder of bolters just a few corridors away, and the results paid off as you saw one of the monitors was turned into so much scrap.
"Hang on Junie..." you whisper. "Hang on Zeph."
You turned your sorrow and your fear both into focused, dedicated rage - and that was why, at last, you reached the bridge of the station - and the final defenders were blown to pieces by Biggs (with a heavy bolter) and Xoti (with a grenade in the mouth) and you strode through the doors. The crew on the bridge were hunkered behind lecterns, with laspistols and you saw that the bridge was mostly focused on managing and moving orbital traffic, not directing a battle. But in the center of it all was a glaring man covered in strange, winding tattoos, wearing a mockery of an Imperial navy's uniform, with a tricorn hat perched on his otherwise bald head. You aimed your sword at him.
"My name is Amaranthine Scourge, of House Scourge...and this station is now mine by Imperial right. You may take your knees while you breathe, or you may take your knees without your head, scum."
The man glares at you - the man who had, for the past three hours, directed his crew in a terrifyingly entrenched, heroic struggle against your forces - and then...finally...he gestures to his side. "Strike! Fucking strike! ...it's over."
Slowly...bits by bits...the fighting dies. The echoing sounds of gunfire and melee combat fades - and the air is full of the smell of smoke and blood. You lower your sword, adrenaline fading from your blood bit by bit, leaving you trembling faintly. The Elysians move forward to secure the bridge crew and soon, Em and Ryia have joined you on the bridge. Ryia's cheek is bloody and her left ear looks like someone had taken a chunk out of it, while Em's armor was merely dented and blood splattered. When he took his helmet off, he looked exhausted, but wry.
"We've taken the station," he says.
"The Colossus has been boarded," you say, not sure if he knew. Em looks as if someone has whacked him by a two by four - and honestly, you can't even blame your husband, even as your stomach tightens and sweat prickles along your skin.
Slade jogs over. "M'lady, we're getting a vox from the Colossus," she says, and you feel fear gathering in your belly as you take the vox, then put it to your ear.
"Hello?"
There is a short pause.
Then...
"Mom...what the heck do I do with this sword? The...captain gave it to me after his men surrendered." Junie sounds faintly exasperated. "Do I just have to keep this piece of shit sword?"
And best of all?
"We're still checking the stores," Dr. Ventris says, yawning. "But most of them are actual victuals, good enough to eat, though we did have to vent some into space when they came up as being laced with narcotics." She shakes her head. "We have enough food and water for four months for everyone."
"THE DAMAGE THE COLOSSUS TAKEN IS...IREPERABLE," Phi says, which causes the mood of everyone to darken.
"What do you mean, irreparable?" Ryia asks.
"HER NOVA CANNON TOOK A FULL SIX DIRECT HITS FROM LARGE BORE CLOSE RANGE GRAV-CULVERINES WHICH DETONATED THE PRELOADED SHELL AND DESTROYED THE ENTIRE CANNON ARRAY. WE NOW HAVE EIGHTFUL VORTEX SHELLS AND NO GUN TO FIRE THEM WITH," Phi says, their voice grim. "THAT INCLUDES THE DAMAGE TAKEN BY THE REST OF THE SHIP WHICH HAS BROUGHT HER TO A HAIR'S BREADTH OF DESTRUCTION. THE FACT THAT MISS MA-KO MANAGED TO SECURE THE MONITOR CONSIDERING THE CIRCUMSTANCES SHE WAS THRUST IN."
Em chuckles, quietly, but grimly. "And there remains an issue of the Citadel of Skulls and the Vault of Secrets...the reason we came, after all."
You nod. "Have we gotten any voxes from the surface?"
"None - but our astrotelepaths have not detected any telepathic signals, and any vox...well, has to deal with that," he says, gesturing to the window. "So, Karad Vall doesn't know his pirate port has been blockaded. What is our long term plan?"
---
What IS your long term plan now?
[ ] We have the orbital domination, we should try and intimidate them into giving us what's inside the Vault
[ ] They're chaos reavers. We patch up, we repair, we let our wounded heal, and we drop a full frontal assault on the Citadel of Skulls and we liberate every single last man, woman and child slave on this planet.
[ ] We've been doing direct attacks for a while now and while each has succeeded, each has cost us heavily in blood and treasure. Lets...try sneaking in, then securing the Vault, then deciding what to do from there
[ ] Write In
Everyone looks your way, including Junie giving you a kinda scowly 'huh' expression. You grin, then stand. "Okay, hear me out...what if we dress up the Revenge's wounds, then act as prizes - the Defiant leads the way, then we dock our prizes with the station...and, well, we also take that time to have the Elysians drill the freemen in some basic combat tactics, and we put them on the Defiant before arriving to spearhead our attack into the port..." You give a wolfish grin as Junie perks up, and Ryia laughs.
"I like it," Em says. "If we hit hard and fast, we might take the port before the monitors can react - and they'll be much easier to deal with long lances..." he nods.
"Assuming you take the port," Ventris grumbles.
"Garrison troopers?" Em asks. "And not even Imperial garrison troopers, but pirate ones? I don't want to jinx ourselves, but I do believe...if we get the ships berthed and can use the cargo holds to get in, we can hit them on a wide flank and take their bridge within an hour."
"I want in," Ryia says.
"Can-" Junie starts, then stops as Em looks at her.
"No, Junie," he says. "A boarding action isn't any place for an officer as young as you." Then he grins. "But...since by the time the repairs are done, you will no longer be under punishment detail...how about this." He clasps his hands, leaning forward. "We'll need someone to oversee the other prizes and ensure that the monitors are dealt with once they strike. Say you stay in the see-eye-see of the Colossus and make sure that all goes well?"
Junie's eyes practically bug out of her head and she beams, sitting up and nodding hurriedly so much that you can't help but giggle.
---
The three weeks spent moored to a lonely asteroid at the edge of the system is a nerve-wracking time of quiet preparation and honing. Despite Em's confident words, it felt as if the whole fleet knew that this might be some very hot, very tough action, and was getting ready for it. Kyiat oversaw the training of new men and women from the freemen, while you worked with liberated priests and confessors (some of whom seemed to treat you as if you were some kind of living saint for having freed them from their bondage to Chaos) to purify as much of the interior of the Defiant as could be, so that it would be safe enough to remain within for at least a little while. Phi threw themselves into the labor of repairing the Revenge from her damaged state, and the crew remained restive and concerned...you admitted, you heard a lot more grumbling under the breaths of the Revengers than you were used to.
Oh aye, they'd say ...Vendigroth's taken the Pearl and poked the Ork in the eye, but these are the Ruinous Powers...has he bitten off more than he can chew?
But grumbling does not turn magically into a mutiny and within three weeks, the Revenge is back to her tip to shape and the new crew have been positioned and moved about. Ryia joined you on the bridge of the Defiant as it began to creep its way forward. The bridge had a strangely sterile look to it - because most of the decorations had been chiseled off in a tearing hurry, and tarps had been thrown up to cover what couldn't yet be removed. The whole ship smelled faintly of spices, and your stomach growled faintly. You rubbed your palm against your belly.
"You know we're going to arrive right about when the food starts going short, right?" Ryia mutters.
"I miss steak," you mutter back.
"Heh," Ryia shakes her head.
You have this faint feeling you had been meaning to ask her a question about something - but it had happened so long ago that you couldn't quite remember what it was. Feeling irritated, you sighed and say: "Quite a ship, though."
"Hell of a ship," Ryia says, her voice gloating.
That kind of irrelevant nothingness made up the conversation for the next three days as you crept your way along the narrow orbits of Inequity and came, at last, to the gas giant herself. The huge, banded, ocher world dominated the vist-plates, and the whole bridge thrummed with tension as you watched the moon creep closer and closer and closer. Ryia was fiddling with the hilt of her sword, as if she expected the fighting to start the instant the station was in view. Em stood next to you, already in his power armor. There had been some discussion about trying to secure repairs before attacking, but...well, you weren't sure that your ruse would last past the airlock doors opening and definitely not after the heritechs came aboard to examine what Phi had done to the ship.
"A hundred thousand kilometers, sir," Jessie says, quietly.
Em nods. "Are you ready?" he asks you.
"Yeah," you say, giving him a smile as the vox crackles.
"This is Khorn's Bulwark to Maw, come in Maw."
You pick up the vox. "Hey there, Bulwark," you say, trying to sound utterly gloating. "We pinched some fine corpse-worshiper ships on our raid - extra slaves, extra ships."
"I can see that! Is that...a Lunar?"
"You know it," you say, grinning.
"We owe Voidheart a drink. Is he off with his harem or something?"
You clenched your hand on the vox, remembering that room.
"Yeah, he's a bit busy, we'll vox you back when he's back," you say, trying to not take great visceral pleasure in the memory of watching that bloated corpse getting shoved out of the airlock. The station grew closer and closer - a vast mountain of metal and stone and leering gargoyles that concealed snarls of anti-ship weaponry. Looking it over, you started to feel a growing tension - it was so huge...and the monitors that were orbiting within a few hundred thousand kilometers looked dangerous, deadly. You had expected something like the system defense ships of Damaris that...honestly, you had admired their bravery more than you had really been impressed by their skill. But something in how these ships hung in formation made you feel a prickling worry.
The Defiant berthed and here was the first part of the plan. The Revenge and the Tachyon's Demise and the Colossus were going to berth, each about ten minutes after the other, and all you had to do was fake seal-lock trouble. You even had left some damage on the ship to clue it up. You and Em and Ryia started for the airlocks - and as you walked, the vox crackled.
"Revenge is secure."
You came to your seal lock. Elysians in their heaviest armor, with their heaviest weapons, were racked up. You drew Aria, who hummed faintly with eagerness.
"Tachyon is secure."
There was a sudden buzz over your com - a vox message from the Chaos station.
"HEY! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU PLAYING AT!?" You put your finger to your vox, jerking up.
"What-"
The voice is furious. "There are Imperial IFF sigmata coming from that carrier, her flight decks are stocked! Those bombers are ready to launch! What are you playing at!?"
Em frowns, then jerks his hand in a single motion.
"Happy Saint's Day!" you say, over the vox, as the seal-locks explode inwards and the Elysians open fire and along the entire, seven kilometer long flank of the Defiant a screaming hoard of soldiers rushed out and straight into the station. Your life narrowed, then from the corridor to the few meters ahead of you, packed close with shocked, stunned Chaos reavers - and again and again and again, your sword rising and falling, rising and falling - cutting them down as you rushed forward with your Elysians. But then you realized...there weren't targets after a time. You panted, then voxed to Em: "I think we have them on the run!"
You stepped out into the opening of a vast launch bay, where hundreds of fighters were waiting...and there, you wished you had said nothing at all. Sandbags were thrown up, heavy weapons had been emplaced, and now you weren't facing mere crew. You were facing armed, armored, trained, drilled men and women. Cries of 'FOR THE EMPEROR!' and 'FOR HOUSE SCOURGE!' smashed against 'BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD!" and 'VALL! VALL! VALL!' as a five kilometer long flight deck transformed, instantly, into a swirling frontal line clash. Elysians threw themselves into cover, officers howled orders, Chaos raiders locked bayonets and charges. The world broke down again - into chunks of action, narrow snatches of five, ten minutes where all of reality became nothing but flushing out that hard point, protecting this soldier, securing this flank. Your power armor drew fire, laser bolts and snubrounds pinging off your armor as you led from the front again and again - with the only interruption being a sudden, blinding white flash that cracked in through the huge, shimmering force fields that hemmed in the cargo hold.
You spared a glance...and saw, to your horror, that the entire prow of the Colossus was smoldering, ringed with twin concentric spheres of force, rippling out and away. The ship heeled - and then the shields rippled and detonations began to flare along her sides. Without her being able to be secured, the monitors - moving faster than you had expected - were hemming her in and taking advantage of the fact they could fire on her without threatening their station.
Then...
The world narrowed again.
Flashes of violence. Dragging a freedman militia back into cover as he clutched at the stump of his smoldering leg, begging the Emperor for salvation. Leading five Elysians around a parked container of munitions to flank out a heavily dug in bolter position, opening fire with your maglevs as you came around the corner, blowing Chaos brains into the air as the Elysians poured down laserfire into them. And beyond it all, you could see through first the force field, then the windows as the fight crunched, meter by bloody meter, corridor by bloody corridor, intersection by blood intersection, into the actual internal structure of the ship...the bombers. The fighters. The space beyond the station was dominated by Imperials snubcraft, and they screamed past the station - and their wings darted down onto the monitors, even as the heavy guns of those small ships were turned upon the burning Colossus.
You had reached the second level and paused, panting, to take a swig of water and vox Em. "Have they struck yet?"
"I'd almost accept this bastard's sword once they do," Em says, his voice tight, then, still connected to your vox link. "Redeploy the servitors to section 4-01 and put three squads on junction A and tell them to damn well hold, I don't care how many mutants they throw at them. Tell them that they can die on their own time, today, we all work for the Emperor."
"Aye sir!"
Em, returning to speaking to you, says: "If you can keep the pressure up in the main corridors, we might be able to pull the 3rd platoon out of the fire without any more losses."
You gave a nod, panted, then say right back: "...aye aye, Em."
The world, once more, became a swirl of violence as you led the armsmen, the freedmen, and the Elysians through the main corridor. Tiny chunks of time: Ripping open a bulkhead door with your bare hands and throwing it directly into a charging Chaos mutant, bisecting it completely in half, then leading the Elysians up into the maintenance junction, so they can flank out and destroy a heavy bolter nest...
...running into a woman with two buzzing chainswords, who dodges again and again, laughing as if this is a game, the two of you locked in a duel of sword to sword, blades crackling and buzzing as they met again and again. One of her swords sheered in half, but her other remained secure as she struck glancing blow after glanicng blow until, at last, you leaped backwards at the right second and Biggs, who had been trying to line up a shot, turned her into a spread of red mist with her heavy bolter...
...seeing, through the window on the fourth floor...the Colossus.
The Colossus' port side had a monitor attached to it and multiple entry points cut in. Crew were charging into the Lathe pattern decks - using the openings as a point to enter by...and yet, as the flashes of lasfire and weaponry from those decks were clear through the void, what was also clear was the starboard flank of the massive, proud carrier. There, dozens of Fury and Starhawks were swooping down towards the starboard landing bays, screaming in and dragging themselves to a stop, to be refitted, refueled, and relaunched, to join the swarming of bombers and fighters in the space around the station. The starboard crew were working while hearing the thunder of bolters just a few corridors away, and the results paid off as you saw one of the monitors was turned into so much scrap.
"Hang on Junie..." you whisper. "Hang on Zeph."
You turned your sorrow and your fear both into focused, dedicated rage - and that was why, at last, you reached the bridge of the station - and the final defenders were blown to pieces by Biggs (with a heavy bolter) and Xoti (with a grenade in the mouth) and you strode through the doors. The crew on the bridge were hunkered behind lecterns, with laspistols and you saw that the bridge was mostly focused on managing and moving orbital traffic, not directing a battle. But in the center of it all was a glaring man covered in strange, winding tattoos, wearing a mockery of an Imperial navy's uniform, with a tricorn hat perched on his otherwise bald head. You aimed your sword at him.
"My name is Amaranthine Scourge, of House Scourge...and this station is now mine by Imperial right. You may take your knees while you breathe, or you may take your knees without your head, scum."
The man glares at you - the man who had, for the past three hours, directed his crew in a terrifyingly entrenched, heroic struggle against your forces - and then...finally...he gestures to his side. "Strike! Fucking strike! ...it's over."
Slowly...bits by bits...the fighting dies. The echoing sounds of gunfire and melee combat fades - and the air is full of the smell of smoke and blood. You lower your sword, adrenaline fading from your blood bit by bit, leaving you trembling faintly. The Elysians move forward to secure the bridge crew and soon, Em and Ryia have joined you on the bridge. Ryia's cheek is bloody and her left ear looks like someone had taken a chunk out of it, while Em's armor was merely dented and blood splattered. When he took his helmet off, he looked exhausted, but wry.
"We've taken the station," he says.
"The Colossus has been boarded," you say, not sure if he knew. Em looks as if someone has whacked him by a two by four - and honestly, you can't even blame your husband, even as your stomach tightens and sweat prickles along your skin.
Slade jogs over. "M'lady, we're getting a vox from the Colossus," she says, and you feel fear gathering in your belly as you take the vox, then put it to your ear.
"Hello?"
There is a short pause.
Then...
"Mom...what the heck do I do with this sword? The...captain gave it to me after his men surrendered." Junie sounds faintly exasperated. "Do I just have to keep this piece of shit sword?"
---
You are so tired as you sit in the chair in the meeting room - but despite your exhaustion, the elation of the crew is burning and it is bright. The double victories - of the Colossus and the Bulwark has reinvigorated the crew morale despite the casualties taken. At the moment, you had an actual for real fleet at your command: Four Jerichos, a monitor (captured by Junie leading a counter attack after her ship was boarded), the Defiant and your original ships. With the vast number of slaves, you were able to crew each ship to their maximum...
And best of all?
"We're still checking the stores," Dr. Ventris says, yawning. "But most of them are actual victuals, good enough to eat, though we did have to vent some into space when they came up as being laced with narcotics." She shakes her head. "We have enough food and water for four months for everyone."
"THE DAMAGE THE COLOSSUS TAKEN IS...IREPERABLE," Phi says, which causes the mood of everyone to darken.
"What do you mean, irreparable?" Ryia asks.
"HER NOVA CANNON TOOK A FULL SIX DIRECT HITS FROM LARGE BORE CLOSE RANGE GRAV-CULVERINES WHICH DETONATED THE PRELOADED SHELL AND DESTROYED THE ENTIRE CANNON ARRAY. WE NOW HAVE EIGHTFUL VORTEX SHELLS AND NO GUN TO FIRE THEM WITH," Phi says, their voice grim. "THAT INCLUDES THE DAMAGE TAKEN BY THE REST OF THE SHIP WHICH HAS BROUGHT HER TO A HAIR'S BREADTH OF DESTRUCTION. THE FACT THAT MISS MA-KO MANAGED TO SECURE THE MONITOR CONSIDERING THE CIRCUMSTANCES SHE WAS THRUST IN."
Em chuckles, quietly, but grimly. "And there remains an issue of the Citadel of Skulls and the Vault of Secrets...the reason we came, after all."
You nod. "Have we gotten any voxes from the surface?"
"None - but our astrotelepaths have not detected any telepathic signals, and any vox...well, has to deal with that," he says, gesturing to the window. "So, Karad Vall doesn't know his pirate port has been blockaded. What is our long term plan?"
---
What IS your long term plan now?
[ ] We have the orbital domination, we should try and intimidate them into giving us what's inside the Vault
[ ] They're chaos reavers. We patch up, we repair, we let our wounded heal, and we drop a full frontal assault on the Citadel of Skulls and we liberate every single last man, woman and child slave on this planet.
[ ] We've been doing direct attacks for a while now and while each has succeeded, each has cost us heavily in blood and treasure. Lets...try sneaking in, then securing the Vault, then deciding what to do from there
[ ] Write In
Deception gets the Defiant up close, but the crew are suss. They scan the approaching ships with Directed Augery actions:100 on the revenge (fail), 64 (still fail) on the Tachyon, 37 (success!) on the Colossus, which is when they release something is up and the INVASION BEGINS!
The boarding will be led by the Revenge, which has fully repaired and fully restocked her crew. Her morale does impart a -15% to the roll!
So, Em has a 87%, +20 for barracks, +5 for turret rating, for 97%
Now, the revenge has 56 hull and is supported by the Defiant (36) and the Tachyon (70) for a totes of 162, while the space station has 200, so that's 40 difference, for a total of +40 to their check, with a +20 from their turret rating, for a total of 100%
However, em DOES get a +20 to his roll for surprise on the first round, so, 117% versus 100%
ROLLING!
Em rolls a 64 versus a 97, which is 5 DOS versus 1 DOS, so Em does 4d5 damage to crew morale and pop: bringing the station to 89 and 78 morale respectively. The monitors begin to approach and the Colossus launches bombers, but has them on hold to scramble fighters too.)
ROUND TWO (1 hour in)
Em rolls: 35 versus 71, for 5 DOS versus 3 DOS, doing 6 and 11 morale damage, bringing them down to 83 and 67! The check for surrender rolls 20
The monitors approach and one fires their dorsal and prow chasers at the Colossus: nat 1 and 66 with a to hit of 50% for 5 DOS and no hits, so that's 5 hits, 2 soaked by shields, doing 7 damage in total and damaging the nova cannon, which destroys it and does 10 more damage to the ship! OUCH!
The Colossus sends 10 fighters and 10 bombers after them! That's a 40% base +5, +2 for craft rating, +45 for the additional bombers, and the enemy turret rating gets a -100, so...they're safe! But that's a 92% with a...82! 1 DOS, doing some minor damage to the monitor (3), which comes onwards.
ROUND THREE
Em rolls a 58, so that's 6 DOS, versus 5 DOS, so that's 1d5 damage to crew and morale: doing 1 and 4 damage, bringing them to 88 and 74! The bastion's morale holds
The monitors throw out their jibbs and all four fire on the Colossus, which has slewed to the side: One gets 4 hits, no crit, one gets 1 hit no crits, 4 hits 1 crit, and one gets 4 hits no crit! Total damage: 42 DAMAGE and the thrusters are shot away, leaving her unable to turn.
The Colossus attacks with her bombers: 9 (!!!!!!) for a total of 9 DOS and a crit, doing 56 damage and hulking the first monitor. Then the Colossus puts on flank speed and sails away as hard as they can! And rolls a 93! ...I spent your last fate point...and rolled ANOTHER 93
...I SWEAR TO GOD
Like, destroying the jovian gun was pretty mean (but it has the downside that it is automatically visible without needing a focused scan and obviously the monitors would want to crit it off) but, like...I swear to god, I'm not doing this intentionally! So, uh...the colossus cannot turn and now, it goes 1 VU per round.
ROUND FOUR
em rolls a 3 (!) for 9 DOS versus...8 DOS. The captain of this station is so fucking good at his job!? 3 and 7 damage though, bringing them down to 86 and 71 morale: They just BARELY hold out with a 70 on their morale check! JUST BREAK ALL READY
The monitors plonder forward and begin trying to board the Colossus: one fails with a 50, the next fails with an 90, the next super fails with a 94
The Colossus limps away and the bombers swoop down on the second monitor and get a 53 for 4 DOS! That's a crit and 18 damage (heavy damage, but not a hulk) and it shoots out their thrusters.
ROUND FIVE
Em rolls a 24 (7 DOS) versus 6 DOS for 1d5 and 1d5 damage! 2 and 4 damage! The enemy is down to 84 and 67! Morale check passes, the battle continues
The monitor flounering by tries to repair her thrusters (Fails), while the others bring themselves about and one of them (with a 16) manages to snare the Colossus! The monitor has 40 hull versus the Colossus which has 11, so that's a +30 bonus, +10 for their turret rating. The colossus has +10 to their turret rating and a 40% base so it's going to be 50% for the colossus and 80%. They roll off: 67 (straight fail) versus 89 (straight fail) for a total progress of nothing and nada!
The bombers swoop onto the undamaged monitor that isn't locked in mortal combat with the colossus: 28! That's 7 DOS, doing 25 damage and setting the enemy on fire!
ROUND SIX
Em rolls 73 (2 DOS) versus 69 (4 DOS) and so now, it is the Revenge who takes damage: 2d5 crew and morale damage! 7 and 10 damage respectively! The the crews of the Revenge remain stalwart in their stubborn resistance!
The monitor flounering repairs and brings herself around. The one that is being bombed tries to add himself to the melee, but fails! The bombers swoop in on that with a 22, doing 7d10-7 damage, which is enough to hulk it!
The boarding action on the Colossus gets 4 DOS for the defenders versus 2 DOS for the attackers, doing 6 and 14 damage to the monitor's crew and morale! They remain steadfast.
ROUND SEVEN
Em rolls 36 (6 DOS) versus 62 (4 DOS) for 6 and 11 damage to crew and morale! the enemy morale is at 40% and, AT LAST they FAIL! THEY STRIKE THEIR COLORS!
The two monitors who see the colors being struck turn to go. The boarding action goes for a 36 (2 DOS) versus 93 (1 DOF) for 3d5 damage...TO THE MONITOR!? 9 crew and 18 morale damage and...they roll 98...the monitor strikes her colors (!!?!?!?)
The last monitor flees, then the bombers come in and get 29, doing 43 fucking damage in one go. Their plasma drive goes up a safe distance away from everyone else.
The boarding will be led by the Revenge, which has fully repaired and fully restocked her crew. Her morale does impart a -15% to the roll!
So, Em has a 87%, +20 for barracks, +5 for turret rating, for 97%
Now, the revenge has 56 hull and is supported by the Defiant (36) and the Tachyon (70) for a totes of 162, while the space station has 200, so that's 40 difference, for a total of +40 to their check, with a +20 from their turret rating, for a total of 100%
However, em DOES get a +20 to his roll for surprise on the first round, so, 117% versus 100%
ROLLING!
Em rolls a 64 versus a 97, which is 5 DOS versus 1 DOS, so Em does 4d5 damage to crew morale and pop: bringing the station to 89 and 78 morale respectively. The monitors begin to approach and the Colossus launches bombers, but has them on hold to scramble fighters too.)
ROUND TWO (1 hour in)
Em rolls: 35 versus 71, for 5 DOS versus 3 DOS, doing 6 and 11 morale damage, bringing them down to 83 and 67! The check for surrender rolls 20
The monitors approach and one fires their dorsal and prow chasers at the Colossus: nat 1 and 66 with a to hit of 50% for 5 DOS and no hits, so that's 5 hits, 2 soaked by shields, doing 7 damage in total and damaging the nova cannon, which destroys it and does 10 more damage to the ship! OUCH!
The Colossus sends 10 fighters and 10 bombers after them! That's a 40% base +5, +2 for craft rating, +45 for the additional bombers, and the enemy turret rating gets a -100, so...they're safe! But that's a 92% with a...82! 1 DOS, doing some minor damage to the monitor (3), which comes onwards.
ROUND THREE
Em rolls a 58, so that's 6 DOS, versus 5 DOS, so that's 1d5 damage to crew and morale: doing 1 and 4 damage, bringing them to 88 and 74! The bastion's morale holds
The monitors throw out their jibbs and all four fire on the Colossus, which has slewed to the side: One gets 4 hits, no crit, one gets 1 hit no crits, 4 hits 1 crit, and one gets 4 hits no crit! Total damage: 42 DAMAGE and the thrusters are shot away, leaving her unable to turn.
The Colossus attacks with her bombers: 9 (!!!!!!) for a total of 9 DOS and a crit, doing 56 damage and hulking the first monitor. Then the Colossus puts on flank speed and sails away as hard as they can! And rolls a 93! ...I spent your last fate point...and rolled ANOTHER 93
...I SWEAR TO GOD
Like, destroying the jovian gun was pretty mean (but it has the downside that it is automatically visible without needing a focused scan and obviously the monitors would want to crit it off) but, like...I swear to god, I'm not doing this intentionally! So, uh...the colossus cannot turn and now, it goes 1 VU per round.
ROUND FOUR
em rolls a 3 (!) for 9 DOS versus...8 DOS. The captain of this station is so fucking good at his job!? 3 and 7 damage though, bringing them down to 86 and 71 morale: They just BARELY hold out with a 70 on their morale check! JUST BREAK ALL READY
The monitors plonder forward and begin trying to board the Colossus: one fails with a 50, the next fails with an 90, the next super fails with a 94
The Colossus limps away and the bombers swoop down on the second monitor and get a 53 for 4 DOS! That's a crit and 18 damage (heavy damage, but not a hulk) and it shoots out their thrusters.
ROUND FIVE
Em rolls a 24 (7 DOS) versus 6 DOS for 1d5 and 1d5 damage! 2 and 4 damage! The enemy is down to 84 and 67! Morale check passes, the battle continues
The monitor flounering by tries to repair her thrusters (Fails), while the others bring themselves about and one of them (with a 16) manages to snare the Colossus! The monitor has 40 hull versus the Colossus which has 11, so that's a +30 bonus, +10 for their turret rating. The colossus has +10 to their turret rating and a 40% base so it's going to be 50% for the colossus and 80%. They roll off: 67 (straight fail) versus 89 (straight fail) for a total progress of nothing and nada!
The bombers swoop onto the undamaged monitor that isn't locked in mortal combat with the colossus: 28! That's 7 DOS, doing 25 damage and setting the enemy on fire!
ROUND SIX
Em rolls 73 (2 DOS) versus 69 (4 DOS) and so now, it is the Revenge who takes damage: 2d5 crew and morale damage! 7 and 10 damage respectively! The the crews of the Revenge remain stalwart in their stubborn resistance!
The monitor flounering repairs and brings herself around. The one that is being bombed tries to add himself to the melee, but fails! The bombers swoop in on that with a 22, doing 7d10-7 damage, which is enough to hulk it!
The boarding action on the Colossus gets 4 DOS for the defenders versus 2 DOS for the attackers, doing 6 and 14 damage to the monitor's crew and morale! They remain steadfast.
ROUND SEVEN
Em rolls 36 (6 DOS) versus 62 (4 DOS) for 6 and 11 damage to crew and morale! the enemy morale is at 40% and, AT LAST they FAIL! THEY STRIKE THEIR COLORS!
The two monitors who see the colors being struck turn to go. The boarding action goes for a 36 (2 DOS) versus 93 (1 DOF) for 3d5 damage...TO THE MONITOR!? 9 crew and 18 morale damage and...they roll 98...the monitor strikes her colors (!!?!?!?)
The last monitor flees, then the bombers come in and get 29, doing 43 fucking damage in one go. Their plasma drive goes up a safe distance away from everyone else.
