Post by fenris07 on Apr 26, 2020 20:28:57 GMT
The cramped flight deck of the Impetuous hastened to action stations as a voice over the loudspeaker crackled to life. “Contact long range, scramble fighter.” Carson “Cobra” Harper hurried out of the ready room with his helmet under his arm as he made his way across the single launch bay toward his Piranha fighter. He climbed up into the cockpit and keyed in the start up sequence as Chief Martel flashed him a five sign as the mechanics got the fuel lines and maintenance cart out of the launch zone. Carson pulled his helmet down and locked it into place as a hiss filled his ears letting him know he was now on suit oxygen. Chief Martel flashed a four as Carson’s fighter was slid forward and onto the catapult launcher.
---
Captain Kieth Ward stood on the bridge of the Impetuous as Sensor Specialist Bartlett called out the contact. “Confirmed hostile, sir, it’s a Hishen Destroyer tagged as the Toruke. It just launched a small craft, can’t confirm type at this range though.”
“Alright, this is what we came out here for.” Said Captain Ward as he looked around the bridge. “Keep an eye on the sensors, I don’t want to be surprised by anything else. Get a firing solution, I want to fire as soon as we can. Full speed ahead and where the hell is our fighter cover?”
---
Down in his fighter Carson hit the side of the hull loudly as he yelled at the hurrying mechanics. “Come on guys, get me the hell out there! Let’s go!” Something had gone wrong on the launcher hook up and they were struggling to fix it so he could launch. Chief Martel called up to the bridge to explain the issue to a frustrated Captain Ward.
“Ok, ok here we go!” Shouted one of the mechanics flashing a thumbs up to Carson who quickly slammed his canopy closed and shrugged back into his flight harness. After another few seconds a green light flashed in front of him and he braced himself for launch. The fighter lurched forward and hurtled through the launch tube and into the blackness of space, he hit the thrusters and rocketed toward the approaching small craft, which he could now identify as a Hishen assault boat. “Yea, that’s not happening.” He muttered to himself as he cleared weapons and readied the rocket pods.
---
“Sir, we’re in range to fire.” Fire Officer Moshi stated as she looked over to Captain Ward.
“Well, don’t wait for me Moshi, fire at will!” Captain Ward said as the ship shook from the recoil of its Mass Driver launching a hypersonic round the size of a person at the approaching Toruke. A second later a streaking ball of plasma was also hurtling toward the enemy destroyer. The hypersonic round went wide but the ball of plasma burst across the Toruke’s shields, cascading across them and causing them to flicker out across the entirety of the destroyer.
“Sir, Toruke’s shields are down! Incoming plasma and a torpedo!” Sensor Specialist Bartlett called out.
“Brace, brace!” Captain Ward called out over the inter ship comms as the two plasma balls slammed into the side of the ship, roiling over the barely holding shields. The hit from the plasma scrambled targeting enough that the AA turrets couldn't hit the torpedo coming in and it slammed into the engines, slowing the Impetuous to a crawl.
---
Out in his fighter Carson could see the two capital ships trade body blows and the Impetuous’s engines flicker and one go out. “I gotta get in this.” He murmurs to himself as he punches the afterburners to get into the fight. A master caution lights up on his panel but with the speed he’s going he’s able to barrel roll under the FF missile fired at him by the assault boat and hammers in mass driver rounds on the surprised pilot. Unfortunately all the rounds bounced off the shields and Carson panicked as he realized he’s about to run right through the assault boat’s rear turret arc of fire and jammed on the throttle and control stick to avoid it. In his haste he over corrected and found himself in front of the assault boat showing his big ass.
“Oh shit…” was all Carson had time to say as another master caution light blinked on his panel before an explosion against his ship rocked him and caused his ship to tumble uncontrolled. Multiple damage warnings flashed as he struggled to regain control, both his comms and engines were out and he could barely use his thrusters to control the spin but he was alive. As he got his bearings and minimal engine thrust back online capship AA starts firing and exploding all around him. He must have been blown into AA range of the enemy destroyer, he’d been lucky he hadn’t been blown out of the sky but that luck couldn’t hold forever. Carson sees another torpedo launch out of the tube and streak towards the Impetuous in the distance and realizes it didn’t cross the shields as it launched. The shields must be down and he’s got two rocket pods begging to be used! He flips his ship around and strafes the hull and engines of the Toruke as he thundered through it’s AA screen. Small explosions from his Mass Driver rounds do superficial damage but the rockets ripped through the engine compartments and blew out the engines causing the Toruke to slow to a crawl as it lost speed. Carson continued on his barely controlled course through the AA fire and out of range as he struggled to get his engines and comms fully back on line.
---
“Get my engines back! Return fire with the projectile cannon and a torpedo!” Captain Ward yelled across the bridge, head still ringing from the impact of the torpedo and plasma hits they had taken. The hypersonic round sailed past the Toruke again off target and Captain Ward looked at Fire Officer Moshi, “We need accurate fire, next one better be a hit or you’re done on my bridge.” Before Moshi could respond Bartlett interrupted.
“Torpedo hit sir!” He called out, causing Captain Ward to forget about Moshi and look at his readouts. The torpedo they had fired had made its way through the AA fire of the Toruke and smashed into the unshielded hull gashing a huge hole and spewing men and equipment into space. “She’s turning away, looks like she’s had enough sir!”
“Not yet she hasn’t, let’s finish these Hishen bastards. What's the status of our engines, I don't want her escaping.” Captain Ward said as he hungrily leaned over his command console and watched the destroyer struggle to move away from the fight.
“Almost there sir, still having some damage control issues.” Engineer Etola stated as he quickly worked through the status updates on his screens.
“Toruke’s not done, we have incoming plasma!” Sensor Specialist Bartlett called out, too close to change heading the officers could only grip their consoles and hope it missed. Again plasma washed over the shields as they struggled to hold the heat and radiation at bay.
“Shields are down sir, they’ve been overloaded. It’s gonna take a while to recharge them with the engines at half strength.” Engineer Etola said as he continued working furiously at his console.
“Work fast, it’s gonna take them a while to recharge their plasma as well.” Captain Ward paused and then leaned toward his console. “Why am I seeing an assault boat on intercept? What’s Cobra been doing out there, he’s got one job to do!” He slammed his console and stood to his feet. “Shoot that down, Moshi.” He said as he pointed at the approaching assault boat. “If that gets through we don’t have the men to fight them off.”
“Sir, Cobra’s on the far side of the Toruke and he’s not responding to hails. He may be out of the fight.” Sensor Specialist Bartlett said as he shook his head.
---
AA fire reached out for the incoming assault boat but it’s pilot couldn’t be deterred. As he approached the hull at full speed he called out to brace for impact. The assault boat’s nose cone blew its penetrating charge as it hit the now shieldless hull and punched right through the hole it created. One second Chief Martel and his mechanics were at battle stations on the flight deck, listening to the comms overhead. The next they were sucked out the ragged hole ripped in the hull and choking on vacuum as the assault boat blew through and into the inner corridor. It dropped its rear loading door and a platoon of Hishen drones began walking down onto the twisted wreckage of the flight deck. Their carapace armor fully enclosed their blue bodies as they shuffled down the ramp, their mag boots kept them secure to the deck plating. A hulking Grath brought up a breaching charge and placed it on the nearest bulkhead door.
---
Captain Ward sent a seething look at Fire Officer Moshi as Security Officer Dunning called out they’d been boarded and already his teams were struggling to contain the incursion. The Hishen had blown out airlocks and he had lost a number of his men to space without a shot even being fired. Dunning hurried off the bridge to join his men that were left. Captain Ward knew they were in trouble, his lightly armed security teams would be no match for fully armoured Hishen veterans.
“Bartlett, send a message back to Orchid and tell Command we’ve been boarded.” Captain Ward walked slowly around the bridge looking at each officer with a tinge of sadness. “With both our engines and the Toruke’s damaged they won’t be able to go far if they take control of our ship. Send a mayday, we need help immediately.” He said as he stepped in front of the bridge doors and looked at the retreating figure of Dunning down the empty hallway. “Pray that it gets here soon.” He said softly as he shut the hatch and locked the access panel.
---
Security Officer Dunning cursed as flechette and hard rounds ricocheted off the hatch door behind him as he ducked behind some cargo containers hastily formed into a fighting position. Two other members of his security force were still alive but they’d been driven back almost to the bridge. He heard screams echoing down the corridor from other crew mates meeting their fate at the hands of the Hishen invaders. A fate worse than death, enslavement. Dunning had a wife and four kids he had to get back to, no way this was how it was all going to end. He leaned over the container and squeezed off a couple rounds then ducked back down as more fire poured in on his position. Ensign Markus panicked and made a run for the hatch behind them but hard rounds knocked him to the ground and he lay still. Dunning and Ensign Towers looked at each other, fear reflected back in each other's eyes. Dunning gripped his pistol in his sweaty hand and gave a nod to Towers and they stood up together with a yell as they opened fire on the armoured forms that thundered down the corridor.
---
Carson watched in confusion as the Impetuous and Toruke ceased firing at each other. His engines were still stuttering and his comms were a mess, he wiped his sweaty face as a brief bout of claustrophobia washed over him. He had limited mobility and no way to communicate, he glanced at his remaining air gauge then around inside what could become his steel coffin. As the two ships continued to move out of system toward the jump gate without firing a shot a horrible realisation came to Carson. That stupid assault boat must have taken the ship! Ice ran down his spine as he realized he had failed his crew and friends, it was his fault. Carson redoubled his efforts to repair his comms as he coaxed his fighter toward the retreating capital ships. If he could just get his comms back and radio Command his location they could send the cavalry. He could save the Impetuous but it wasn’t going to be easy he thought as he slowly trailed the silent ships and hoped for a miracle.
---
Captain Kieth Ward stood on the bridge of the Impetuous as Sensor Specialist Bartlett called out the contact. “Confirmed hostile, sir, it’s a Hishen Destroyer tagged as the Toruke. It just launched a small craft, can’t confirm type at this range though.”
“Alright, this is what we came out here for.” Said Captain Ward as he looked around the bridge. “Keep an eye on the sensors, I don’t want to be surprised by anything else. Get a firing solution, I want to fire as soon as we can. Full speed ahead and where the hell is our fighter cover?”
---
Down in his fighter Carson hit the side of the hull loudly as he yelled at the hurrying mechanics. “Come on guys, get me the hell out there! Let’s go!” Something had gone wrong on the launcher hook up and they were struggling to fix it so he could launch. Chief Martel called up to the bridge to explain the issue to a frustrated Captain Ward.
“Ok, ok here we go!” Shouted one of the mechanics flashing a thumbs up to Carson who quickly slammed his canopy closed and shrugged back into his flight harness. After another few seconds a green light flashed in front of him and he braced himself for launch. The fighter lurched forward and hurtled through the launch tube and into the blackness of space, he hit the thrusters and rocketed toward the approaching small craft, which he could now identify as a Hishen assault boat. “Yea, that’s not happening.” He muttered to himself as he cleared weapons and readied the rocket pods.
---
“Sir, we’re in range to fire.” Fire Officer Moshi stated as she looked over to Captain Ward.
“Well, don’t wait for me Moshi, fire at will!” Captain Ward said as the ship shook from the recoil of its Mass Driver launching a hypersonic round the size of a person at the approaching Toruke. A second later a streaking ball of plasma was also hurtling toward the enemy destroyer. The hypersonic round went wide but the ball of plasma burst across the Toruke’s shields, cascading across them and causing them to flicker out across the entirety of the destroyer.
“Sir, Toruke’s shields are down! Incoming plasma and a torpedo!” Sensor Specialist Bartlett called out.
“Brace, brace!” Captain Ward called out over the inter ship comms as the two plasma balls slammed into the side of the ship, roiling over the barely holding shields. The hit from the plasma scrambled targeting enough that the AA turrets couldn't hit the torpedo coming in and it slammed into the engines, slowing the Impetuous to a crawl.
---
Out in his fighter Carson could see the two capital ships trade body blows and the Impetuous’s engines flicker and one go out. “I gotta get in this.” He murmurs to himself as he punches the afterburners to get into the fight. A master caution lights up on his panel but with the speed he’s going he’s able to barrel roll under the FF missile fired at him by the assault boat and hammers in mass driver rounds on the surprised pilot. Unfortunately all the rounds bounced off the shields and Carson panicked as he realized he’s about to run right through the assault boat’s rear turret arc of fire and jammed on the throttle and control stick to avoid it. In his haste he over corrected and found himself in front of the assault boat showing his big ass.
“Oh shit…” was all Carson had time to say as another master caution light blinked on his panel before an explosion against his ship rocked him and caused his ship to tumble uncontrolled. Multiple damage warnings flashed as he struggled to regain control, both his comms and engines were out and he could barely use his thrusters to control the spin but he was alive. As he got his bearings and minimal engine thrust back online capship AA starts firing and exploding all around him. He must have been blown into AA range of the enemy destroyer, he’d been lucky he hadn’t been blown out of the sky but that luck couldn’t hold forever. Carson sees another torpedo launch out of the tube and streak towards the Impetuous in the distance and realizes it didn’t cross the shields as it launched. The shields must be down and he’s got two rocket pods begging to be used! He flips his ship around and strafes the hull and engines of the Toruke as he thundered through it’s AA screen. Small explosions from his Mass Driver rounds do superficial damage but the rockets ripped through the engine compartments and blew out the engines causing the Toruke to slow to a crawl as it lost speed. Carson continued on his barely controlled course through the AA fire and out of range as he struggled to get his engines and comms fully back on line.
---
“Get my engines back! Return fire with the projectile cannon and a torpedo!” Captain Ward yelled across the bridge, head still ringing from the impact of the torpedo and plasma hits they had taken. The hypersonic round sailed past the Toruke again off target and Captain Ward looked at Fire Officer Moshi, “We need accurate fire, next one better be a hit or you’re done on my bridge.” Before Moshi could respond Bartlett interrupted.
“Torpedo hit sir!” He called out, causing Captain Ward to forget about Moshi and look at his readouts. The torpedo they had fired had made its way through the AA fire of the Toruke and smashed into the unshielded hull gashing a huge hole and spewing men and equipment into space. “She’s turning away, looks like she’s had enough sir!”
“Not yet she hasn’t, let’s finish these Hishen bastards. What's the status of our engines, I don't want her escaping.” Captain Ward said as he hungrily leaned over his command console and watched the destroyer struggle to move away from the fight.
“Almost there sir, still having some damage control issues.” Engineer Etola stated as he quickly worked through the status updates on his screens.
“Toruke’s not done, we have incoming plasma!” Sensor Specialist Bartlett called out, too close to change heading the officers could only grip their consoles and hope it missed. Again plasma washed over the shields as they struggled to hold the heat and radiation at bay.
“Shields are down sir, they’ve been overloaded. It’s gonna take a while to recharge them with the engines at half strength.” Engineer Etola said as he continued working furiously at his console.
“Work fast, it’s gonna take them a while to recharge their plasma as well.” Captain Ward paused and then leaned toward his console. “Why am I seeing an assault boat on intercept? What’s Cobra been doing out there, he’s got one job to do!” He slammed his console and stood to his feet. “Shoot that down, Moshi.” He said as he pointed at the approaching assault boat. “If that gets through we don’t have the men to fight them off.”
“Sir, Cobra’s on the far side of the Toruke and he’s not responding to hails. He may be out of the fight.” Sensor Specialist Bartlett said as he shook his head.
---
AA fire reached out for the incoming assault boat but it’s pilot couldn’t be deterred. As he approached the hull at full speed he called out to brace for impact. The assault boat’s nose cone blew its penetrating charge as it hit the now shieldless hull and punched right through the hole it created. One second Chief Martel and his mechanics were at battle stations on the flight deck, listening to the comms overhead. The next they were sucked out the ragged hole ripped in the hull and choking on vacuum as the assault boat blew through and into the inner corridor. It dropped its rear loading door and a platoon of Hishen drones began walking down onto the twisted wreckage of the flight deck. Their carapace armor fully enclosed their blue bodies as they shuffled down the ramp, their mag boots kept them secure to the deck plating. A hulking Grath brought up a breaching charge and placed it on the nearest bulkhead door.
---
Captain Ward sent a seething look at Fire Officer Moshi as Security Officer Dunning called out they’d been boarded and already his teams were struggling to contain the incursion. The Hishen had blown out airlocks and he had lost a number of his men to space without a shot even being fired. Dunning hurried off the bridge to join his men that were left. Captain Ward knew they were in trouble, his lightly armed security teams would be no match for fully armoured Hishen veterans.
“Bartlett, send a message back to Orchid and tell Command we’ve been boarded.” Captain Ward walked slowly around the bridge looking at each officer with a tinge of sadness. “With both our engines and the Toruke’s damaged they won’t be able to go far if they take control of our ship. Send a mayday, we need help immediately.” He said as he stepped in front of the bridge doors and looked at the retreating figure of Dunning down the empty hallway. “Pray that it gets here soon.” He said softly as he shut the hatch and locked the access panel.
---
Security Officer Dunning cursed as flechette and hard rounds ricocheted off the hatch door behind him as he ducked behind some cargo containers hastily formed into a fighting position. Two other members of his security force were still alive but they’d been driven back almost to the bridge. He heard screams echoing down the corridor from other crew mates meeting their fate at the hands of the Hishen invaders. A fate worse than death, enslavement. Dunning had a wife and four kids he had to get back to, no way this was how it was all going to end. He leaned over the container and squeezed off a couple rounds then ducked back down as more fire poured in on his position. Ensign Markus panicked and made a run for the hatch behind them but hard rounds knocked him to the ground and he lay still. Dunning and Ensign Towers looked at each other, fear reflected back in each other's eyes. Dunning gripped his pistol in his sweaty hand and gave a nod to Towers and they stood up together with a yell as they opened fire on the armoured forms that thundered down the corridor.
---
Carson watched in confusion as the Impetuous and Toruke ceased firing at each other. His engines were still stuttering and his comms were a mess, he wiped his sweaty face as a brief bout of claustrophobia washed over him. He had limited mobility and no way to communicate, he glanced at his remaining air gauge then around inside what could become his steel coffin. As the two ships continued to move out of system toward the jump gate without firing a shot a horrible realisation came to Carson. That stupid assault boat must have taken the ship! Ice ran down his spine as he realized he had failed his crew and friends, it was his fault. Carson redoubled his efforts to repair his comms as he coaxed his fighter toward the retreating capital ships. If he could just get his comms back and radio Command his location they could send the cavalry. He could save the Impetuous but it wasn’t going to be easy he thought as he slowly trailed the silent ships and hoped for a miracle.
