wolfboy
Captain
Chapter 2:
Matsor System:
Commander Inyenko looked at his tactical plot aboard the privateer vessel Bloodletter and grimaced. He and his squadron had been in this pissant planet less system for two weeks without so much as a nibble and it was starting to wear on them, most notably their commanding officer. Turning away from the plot for a moment the commander rubbed his eyes and then checked his chrono. He was 4 hours into his 8 hour watch and he delighted in the thought of going to bed for his next 8 hour shift. This of course is when the tactical plot decided to beep at him to announce a situation change. Turning his attention back to the plot the commander noticed a new ship had jumped into the system. The sensors were reading the new contact as a medium transport of unknown type and it was moving deeper into the system on a straight line course to the next jump node in line. Finally the transponder beacon caught up with the Bloodletter, IFF showed her as the independent transport Montego Bay and since she had just come in from the New Castle system she was probably loaded down with spares and and other necessities. Suddenly the tactical plot hiccuped and the transport was gone. This caused the commander to swear softly for a moment until the transport showed back up. It was not the usual yellow-green of a normal transponder signal but the sickly amber flashing red of a ship in distress. “Mr. Jones,” the commander's voice rang with an icy coldness. “Wake the old man and Master Sargent Youngman. Inform them that we have a new target of opportunity.”
Bridge TCS Bataan:
“Captain on the bridge!” The shout rang out from the slightly over eager ensign as James stepped onto the bridge once more. He had been on the bridge 8 hours before when they had shut down the ship and dumped their trash to give the appearance of a massive ship malfunction. Now they had four ships bearing down on them from the far jump node and it was time for some action. Waving the bridge to their posts the captain called out, “All hands man battle stations, flight deck prepare to launch fighters. Marines prepare to repell borders.” As the Captain gave his orders the ship leapt into action. Pilots triple checked the settings on their weapons as flight crews continued to secure the flight deck and Terran marines checked their flechette guns and side-arms in preparation of the enemy boarding them. As the transports reached a mark on the holo-tank and started launching shuttles, the captain nodded to the tactical officer who pushed an innocuous button on his console. In PriFly an alarm started to buzz and the flight deck officer called over the intercom. “All ships launch, repeat all fighters launch.” With the order given the fighters streamed out of the hanger and down the flight line, launching into space and instantly forming into their elements, flights and squadrons.
Bridge PV Bloodletter:
The captain of the Bloodletter smiled as the squadron of pirates banked in on the disabled transport. “Commander Inyenko, launch fighters and shuttles, then hail the transport and tell them to prepare to receive boarding parties.” The commander complied with the captains order and as the shuttles and fighters launched from the Bloodletter he started to contact the transport. Suddenly the incoming transmission light blipped to life as the transport suddenly raised shields and fighters started launching from somewhere on the ship. Hitting the receive button the commander's headset started blasting out the message. “Incoming ships this is the TCS Bataan, standoff, stand down and prepare to be boarded.” As the message started to repeat the commander ripped the headset from his ears and turned to the captain. “Captain, its a confed fighting ship, she's launching fighters and ordering us to stand down!” At the same time the sensors officer called out, “I'm receiving radar and lidar hits on the squadron sir.” this was followed by the tactical officer calling out. “Sir, they have torpedo lock and are ready to fire!”
The madhouse swirled around the Captain and the commander but the pirate captain just grimaced and stayed calm. “Continue to launch shuttles and fighters, all batteries close up and prepare for combat and inform Master Sargent Youngman that he might have a tougher nut to crack than usual. Come on people its four on one, you honestly think they have a chance, now get to work!” he snapped as he shoved the commander from the tactical station.
In space the battle between the fighters swirled as energy weapons and missle lanced out from one to another in a dance of death. Initially the pirates held a slight upper hand due to outnumbering the confederation fighters by 2, but it was an upper hand that they soon lost as the younger models of fighter tore through them with a vengence. Lasers and anti-matter turrets on the transports and the carrier lanced out at each other, the transports trying to make up for the now shifting weight of fighters and the carrier targetting the shields of the Bloodletter. The shuttles from the transports slid through the battle without the fighters even bothering with them, landing on the flight deck of the carrier and disgorging the troops held within. Spinning in place they sat with their loading hatches open and waited for the troops to return laden with treasure. It was a treasure they would never see because as the troops rushed the main hatch gunfire errupted on their flanks from the low wall of crates that lined the edges of the flightline. The company of marines under the command of Major Hunt caught the boarders in the open where they had no cover and proceeded to pound them with automatic flechete fire. By the time the last of the boarders fell to the company's fire, the enemy shuttles were already away, and the major contacted the bridge. “Reception party to Party planner, the inside guest have all been seen to, and we are ready to begin phase two.” the response came back almost immediately, “Confirm ready for phase 2, do not perform carry-out until ordered.” The major confirmed the order and had primary flight control lower the boarding shuttles his marines would be using.
The last of the pirate fighters finally fell to the combined effort of the younger models, but they didnt go down alone as most of the light fighters from the confederation ship had blown up with them. The difference was in the amount of escape pods there were. The confederation fighters had all punched out, while only a couple of the pirates had managed to get their escape pods to fire off. Now the heavy fighters of the “Black Knight” squadron pulled back from the battle and lined up on the lead ship of the squadron, launching one of their two torpedos once their targetting computers had lock. At the same time the carrier spat four torpedos of its own at the lead ship and all sixteen of the torpedos crashed into the pirate stopping it dead in its tracks.
Picking himself up off the deck where the explosion had thrown him, commander Inyenko looked about the bridge of the Bloodletter. The shuttles had bugged out and headed for the Newcastle system and would use the story of their ships having been set upon by pirates as a cover. The transports on the other hand had to fight their way clear and run for it and with the hope that either they took out the carrier or died in the process. Sliding the dead rating off the damage control panel he found most of the ship was down heavily damaged from the heavy torpedo strike. Engineering was out enviromental was on local canned air and the weapons and reactors were fried. All the commander could do now was either evacuate the ship, or watch the battle as it unfolded. Already the heavy fighters were breaking off in pursuit of the other transports, four to each ship and firing in concert with the carrier. The fire was near perfect taking out the sheilds and engines in a single hit. It was as the final pirate was taken out the carrier started sending out shuttles, each shuttle moving to a different pirate ship and broadcasting a demand for surrender. The commander stumbled over to the communications console where a disheveled and groggy tech was just regaining conciousness, and pushed the send button. “All ships, repeat all ships stand down and allow boarding
Matsor System:
Commander Inyenko looked at his tactical plot aboard the privateer vessel Bloodletter and grimaced. He and his squadron had been in this pissant planet less system for two weeks without so much as a nibble and it was starting to wear on them, most notably their commanding officer. Turning away from the plot for a moment the commander rubbed his eyes and then checked his chrono. He was 4 hours into his 8 hour watch and he delighted in the thought of going to bed for his next 8 hour shift. This of course is when the tactical plot decided to beep at him to announce a situation change. Turning his attention back to the plot the commander noticed a new ship had jumped into the system. The sensors were reading the new contact as a medium transport of unknown type and it was moving deeper into the system on a straight line course to the next jump node in line. Finally the transponder beacon caught up with the Bloodletter, IFF showed her as the independent transport Montego Bay and since she had just come in from the New Castle system she was probably loaded down with spares and and other necessities. Suddenly the tactical plot hiccuped and the transport was gone. This caused the commander to swear softly for a moment until the transport showed back up. It was not the usual yellow-green of a normal transponder signal but the sickly amber flashing red of a ship in distress. “Mr. Jones,” the commander's voice rang with an icy coldness. “Wake the old man and Master Sargent Youngman. Inform them that we have a new target of opportunity.”
Bridge TCS Bataan:
“Captain on the bridge!” The shout rang out from the slightly over eager ensign as James stepped onto the bridge once more. He had been on the bridge 8 hours before when they had shut down the ship and dumped their trash to give the appearance of a massive ship malfunction. Now they had four ships bearing down on them from the far jump node and it was time for some action. Waving the bridge to their posts the captain called out, “All hands man battle stations, flight deck prepare to launch fighters. Marines prepare to repell borders.” As the Captain gave his orders the ship leapt into action. Pilots triple checked the settings on their weapons as flight crews continued to secure the flight deck and Terran marines checked their flechette guns and side-arms in preparation of the enemy boarding them. As the transports reached a mark on the holo-tank and started launching shuttles, the captain nodded to the tactical officer who pushed an innocuous button on his console. In PriFly an alarm started to buzz and the flight deck officer called over the intercom. “All ships launch, repeat all fighters launch.” With the order given the fighters streamed out of the hanger and down the flight line, launching into space and instantly forming into their elements, flights and squadrons.
Bridge PV Bloodletter:
The captain of the Bloodletter smiled as the squadron of pirates banked in on the disabled transport. “Commander Inyenko, launch fighters and shuttles, then hail the transport and tell them to prepare to receive boarding parties.” The commander complied with the captains order and as the shuttles and fighters launched from the Bloodletter he started to contact the transport. Suddenly the incoming transmission light blipped to life as the transport suddenly raised shields and fighters started launching from somewhere on the ship. Hitting the receive button the commander's headset started blasting out the message. “Incoming ships this is the TCS Bataan, standoff, stand down and prepare to be boarded.” As the message started to repeat the commander ripped the headset from his ears and turned to the captain. “Captain, its a confed fighting ship, she's launching fighters and ordering us to stand down!” At the same time the sensors officer called out, “I'm receiving radar and lidar hits on the squadron sir.” this was followed by the tactical officer calling out. “Sir, they have torpedo lock and are ready to fire!”
The madhouse swirled around the Captain and the commander but the pirate captain just grimaced and stayed calm. “Continue to launch shuttles and fighters, all batteries close up and prepare for combat and inform Master Sargent Youngman that he might have a tougher nut to crack than usual. Come on people its four on one, you honestly think they have a chance, now get to work!” he snapped as he shoved the commander from the tactical station.
In space the battle between the fighters swirled as energy weapons and missle lanced out from one to another in a dance of death. Initially the pirates held a slight upper hand due to outnumbering the confederation fighters by 2, but it was an upper hand that they soon lost as the younger models of fighter tore through them with a vengence. Lasers and anti-matter turrets on the transports and the carrier lanced out at each other, the transports trying to make up for the now shifting weight of fighters and the carrier targetting the shields of the Bloodletter. The shuttles from the transports slid through the battle without the fighters even bothering with them, landing on the flight deck of the carrier and disgorging the troops held within. Spinning in place they sat with their loading hatches open and waited for the troops to return laden with treasure. It was a treasure they would never see because as the troops rushed the main hatch gunfire errupted on their flanks from the low wall of crates that lined the edges of the flightline. The company of marines under the command of Major Hunt caught the boarders in the open where they had no cover and proceeded to pound them with automatic flechete fire. By the time the last of the boarders fell to the company's fire, the enemy shuttles were already away, and the major contacted the bridge. “Reception party to Party planner, the inside guest have all been seen to, and we are ready to begin phase two.” the response came back almost immediately, “Confirm ready for phase 2, do not perform carry-out until ordered.” The major confirmed the order and had primary flight control lower the boarding shuttles his marines would be using.
The last of the pirate fighters finally fell to the combined effort of the younger models, but they didnt go down alone as most of the light fighters from the confederation ship had blown up with them. The difference was in the amount of escape pods there were. The confederation fighters had all punched out, while only a couple of the pirates had managed to get their escape pods to fire off. Now the heavy fighters of the “Black Knight” squadron pulled back from the battle and lined up on the lead ship of the squadron, launching one of their two torpedos once their targetting computers had lock. At the same time the carrier spat four torpedos of its own at the lead ship and all sixteen of the torpedos crashed into the pirate stopping it dead in its tracks.
Picking himself up off the deck where the explosion had thrown him, commander Inyenko looked about the bridge of the Bloodletter. The shuttles had bugged out and headed for the Newcastle system and would use the story of their ships having been set upon by pirates as a cover. The transports on the other hand had to fight their way clear and run for it and with the hope that either they took out the carrier or died in the process. Sliding the dead rating off the damage control panel he found most of the ship was down heavily damaged from the heavy torpedo strike. Engineering was out enviromental was on local canned air and the weapons and reactors were fried. All the commander could do now was either evacuate the ship, or watch the battle as it unfolded. Already the heavy fighters were breaking off in pursuit of the other transports, four to each ship and firing in concert with the carrier. The fire was near perfect taking out the sheilds and engines in a single hit. It was as the final pirate was taken out the carrier started sending out shuttles, each shuttle moving to a different pirate ship and broadcasting a demand for surrender. The commander stumbled over to the communications console where a disheveled and groggy tech was just regaining conciousness, and pushed the send button. “All ships, repeat all ships stand down and allow boarding