[sachmo]

Second Battle of Cetarus

While Brennan was preparing to chase the Rage fleet, they unexpectedly turned at extreme range and regrouped to attack Cetarus again. They came in a wall formation again, only this time they did not have a second rank of ships. They closed to extreme missile range and opened fire on the fleet. Brennan had his ships move into position between the Rage fleet and Cetarus, and waited for his chance.
The mass wall of missiles flew toward the fleet. Sierra opened up at maximum range and killed a few. Brennan ordered the fleet to make for the far side of the planet to allow the anti-missile batteries a few more moments to engage the Rage missiles.
The extra time worked as planned, and all of the Rage missiles were destroyed with no damage to the Remorhaz ships.
A Rage Furious class destroyer moved to engage Sierra, but watched as her missiles were destroyed by the fleet point defense. Meanwhile, the Remorhaz ships moved into within four sectors of the Rage ship, ready to engage the enemy.
Brennan felt a surge of pride as his old command Hawk scored a telling blow on the Furious, bLasting an engine apart with heavy slugs and pumping a few more into the ship’s internal structure. The Rage ship turned to flee, but began to slow. Fortitude and Catreus closed range, firing missiles but missing with their depleted uranium cannon. The Rage ship struggled to open the range between it and the Remorhaz fleet. Fortitude’s missiles struck her, bLasting apart most of her engines and missile launchers. The Furious was still slowing, and the sensor officer reported that her remaining engines were definitely damaged. At this point, the entire Rage fleet fired another salvo of missiles, and so Brennan ordered his ships to dash back to Cetarus but not before firing one Last salvo at the Furious. Catreus fired a DUC salvo that ripped chunks out of her armor and turned its Last missile launcher into a twisted wreck. Eagle and Catreus both missed, but Sierra’s heavy cannon were able to destroy the Furious. It exploded in a spectacular display, lighting up both fleets as her missile ammunition exploded. The bridge crew cheered as they turned to head for the safety of the surface guns.
A Rage Claymore frigate was the next target. After it fired its missiles, Catreus raked her with cannon fire, and Hawk continued her lucky day by hitting an engine with cannon fire and having it explode, taking two more engines with it. The Claymore limped away at half speed as the Remorhaz ships moved back under the anti-missile cover. In the meantime, a missile salvo from Comet struck the already damaged Claymore, crippling the ship. Gasses exploded from great holes in the hull and debris twisted and rolled in space around the ship. Comet fired one Last salvo at the enemy frigate, hoping that would finish it off. They did. The Claymore split in half as the missiles struck her, with the two huge pieces of ship drifting apart until the lower half exploded, vaporizing everything around it.
On the tactical display, something caught Brennan’s eye. One lone Rage Claymore had split off from the Rage battle line, and seemed to be making an end run around the Remorhaz ships. Brennan opened a com channel to the captains of Fortitude and Catreus, Lieutenant Commanders Eddard Boggs and Risa Frotov, respectively.
“Risa, Eddard, I want you two to go after that Claymore trying to sneak around our flank. I don’t want him getting a free shot at the colony”, Brennan explained.
Risa’s cold, blue eyes fell on him as she calculated the situation.
“Sir, we will be compromising our firepower. If we…”
Brennan stopped her with a raised hand.
“I need you to stay aware of the situation. If the Claymore turns to run, don’t get led off on a hunting trip. Try to stay close so you can get back if I need you. If you can take him out, so much the better.”
Risa and Eddard nodded.
“Good luck. Remember, stay close.”
He closed the link and watched as half of his firepower detached and moved to intercept the lone Rage frigate. They didn’t get very far before the Rage made a huge mistake. As the two Remorhaz ships split off from the battle line, the remainder of the Rage fleet cut the corner to open fire at these two ships. Every Rage ship save two fired its missiles at Fortitude and Catreus. This allowed Brennan to lead Sierra, Comet, and Hawk to engage a defenseless Rage Claymore. Sierra bLasted the ship with heavy cannon fire, and Comet fired another missile salvo. All the Rage ship could do was turn and try to escape before being destroyed. Once again the Rage fleet turned in confusion, this time to engage the new threat. Sierra was able to damage two more Rage frigates before turning back to toward Cetarus. One Rage missile salvo was able to overwhelm it’s point defenses but exploded harmlessly against the shields.
Missiles from Fortitude and Comet finished off another of the damaged Claymores. The Rage still continued to fire and run, but every time they miscalculated, they paid for it dearly. After their next salvo, Brennan counter attacked. Sierra closed to three sectors from a Claymore and smashed the Rage ship with her weapons. Hawk moved in and finished it off. The counter attack was not without cost. The Rage ships concentrated their fire on Sierra, and the combined point defenses of the fleet could not stop them all. The first wave finished off the shields and tore the anti-proton beams and torpedoes apart. The second salvo struck her in the stern, ripping engines apart. Sierra was reduced to ¾ speed. She turned to head back for Cetarus once again. Fortitude and Catreus went after another Claymore. Catreus scored a hit on the enemy ship with cannon fire, but did not slow it down. Working together, the two ships were able to close in and pound it with cannon fire. Before long the Rage ship exploded when the hot depleted uranium shells set off secondary explosions that ripped the ship apart.. Hawk joined them once Sierra was back under the anti-missile umbrella, and they closed on the Defiance. The combined missile and cannon fire of the three Remorhaz ships took this ship down in short order. The Rage were down to only two ships. The Rage captain appeared to be prepared to fight to the death, because his remaining destroyer and frigate held their ground and continued to fire missiles at Brennan’s ships. Brennan gathered his forces to him, and they joined to finish the Rage ships off. One more salvo was launched from the Rage ships, but this was easily swept aside by fleet point defense. Hawk closed range with the enemy ships first, puncturing the hull of a Defiance class frigate with cannon fire. This attack knocked out an engine, slowing her a bit. Fortitude closed range and fired her missiles at the Notorious class destroyer. Hawk and Fortitude remained locked on the Defiance and bLasted the ship with depleted uranium slugs. These hits tore thru the heart of the Rage frigate, with the final shot of this barrage hitting the bridge dead center, killing the bridge crew instantly.
It was only a matter of time. Battered beyond all hope of escape, the Rage ships moved to ram Sierra, but were unable to as missile fire from Comet destroyed the Defiance, and Sierra finished off the Notorious with a cannon barrage.
Brennan felt his body relax as he watched the debris cloud that was the Last Rage ship expand on the view screen. Watching the Rage ships fall under his guns, his mind had wandered, telling him that he had done what he was asked to do, and that soon he would be able to go home. He frowned and scolded himself for thinking that way. They still had a long way to go to ensure that the Rage had been eliminated from the galaxy. Everyone though this was the Last of the Rage navy, but no one knew for sure. He had to hunt them down and kill them. After that, he might be able to relax for a while, but there were still the Ukra-Tal to contend with. As quickly as the relaxation had come, it was gone as damage and casualty reports began to come in from the stations of his damaged ship. No, he had to keep his mind on the task at hand and ensure that the Rage were no longer a threat to the Remorhaz Society. Only then would he allow himself to relax.

As planned, Brigadier General Townsend had taken his Space Marines across the system and invaded Jethanis VII. This tiny planet was home to a Rage research center that surrendered even before the Space Marines had dropped. The Rage Collective continued to crumble.