Re: A new Game story (From the begining)
Shadows in the Void
“Are you sure it’s real, is there no way it’s a phony?” Praetor Leonidas crumpled the paper with anger and threw it away from his desk like it was an explosive, after a moment he looked up at the three members of the military council, the heads of the three “fighting forces” of the military.
“Yes Highness, it’s been confirmed, as of zero six hundred this morning the Mantis Star Nation has declared war on the Icaran Empire, worse still sir I believe they have shared their cloaking technology with the Andermanian Navy, though our operatives say that information is almost a year old now.” Grand Admiral Bright sighed as she frowned at her Praetor.
“Damn them!, damn them to hell their Queen signed a treaty only to break it now!” Leonidas turned red with rage as a much more serious problem hit him..
“My God we can’t warn the fleet admirals for another month!” Leonidas sank bank into his chair heavily as he thought about what that meant for the fleets currently deployed.
“Highness our Admirals are good people and our crews are experienced, if anyone can deal with stumbling into an ambush it’s them.” Commandant Harris sounded confident even though everyone else knew that was just a show for his comrades and Praetor.
“I should have never deployed them straight into Andermanian territory, if they had cloaking devices for a year we don’t know how many ships they have that may be equipped, or for that matter how many ships they have period.” Leonidas sounded almost pleading as he looked at his commanders.
“Highness, we’ve already dispatched the messenger drones, a month, maybe two and they’ll have the news, in the meantime all we can do is pray and continue deploying the cloak detecting satellites we do have.” Tanya Bright frowned, there was nothing else anyone could do, not until messenger drones arrived.
“Alright Grand Admiral, but do me a favor, order our fleets to fall back to the system’s they’ve already pacified until we can deploy additional forces to the region, understood?” Leonidas recovered his composure and folded his hands together in contemplation.
“Yes Highness, and sir I’ve already taken the liberty of dispatching an SD division to reinforce both Home fleet and Lacerta fleets, when our economy recovers from the Mantis treachery I will dispatch 3rd fleet under Admiral Lord Ross to the region to reinforce 1st and 2nd as the need requires….but highness I am afraid I must be about it now to dispatch my orders with your leave of course?” She bowed at the shoulder and turned around at his nod…..and hoped to God that no one ran into an Andermanian or Mantisoran ambush, after all who could have guessed at the Mantisoran treachery?
Meanwhile Nepsis system, 1st fleet, Andermanian Crusade:
It was three weeks into the Nepsis assault and so far the 1st fleet had suffered only minimal losses to ground forces as they took out three enemy bases and added them to the Empire and so far not a single sign of the Andermanian navy.
Sandra Fowler sat comfortably in her day cabin, sipping a cup of chai tea as she read the fifth flexi pad in the past two hours, the one thing she hated about being a division commander-all the damn paperwork-this time it was from Catherine‘s chief gunnery officer, apparently she had been having some issues with her crews after the fall of the first Nepsis target, something about their main guns targeting sensors being off by .05, she was requesting that division command give her permission to deploy 18 mark XIV target drones for a gunner exercise. Fowler placed her thumb print with a sigh of resignation, she had reports from the division heads of almost all six ships in her division and it was giving her a head ache just thinking about all the work left to do. As she reached for another flexi a soft buzzing from her com unit drew her attention away-with some joy at the temporary reprieve- Admiral Babcock’s face appeared, her joy at the break vanished in an instant when she saw the expression on his face.
“Admiral sir what is it?” She recognized the expression on her Admiral’s face, and knew that something was coming down.
“It looks like the uncontested phase of our naval movements has come to an end Sandy, scopes picked up 13 Andermanian ships, looks like 5 carriers and at least 4 SD’s, at our current acceleration we estimate intercept in under an hour.” Babcock looked like a man who’d been beaten with a stick, they all knew that the Andermanian navy would respond eventually, but something didn’t feel right about how small their current response was, sure they’d been battling it out with a few other stat nations but to respond with only 13 ships against 94 Icaran ships of the line seemed foolish.
“Aye sir, I’ll have all hands to beat to quarters…are you concerned Admiral?” her question came out in a whisper as the man on the other end of the screen nodded.
“Something isn’t right Sandy, we know the Andi fleet has to be stretched thin with their battles against other nations but this just seems wrong, especially since the Corrian Commonwealth surrendered to us two months ago, if anything that should have freed up their fleet in that region and allowed them to focus on us.”
“You think it’s an ambush of some kind sir?”
’I don’t know Sandy, they don’t have cloaking devices last we knew but if they acquired them somehow…..” he paused for a moment and shook himself of the grim thoughts that raced into his mind “Just be careful Sandy, I’ve already talked to most of the other Division commanders and will have time to speak to the others before we engage the enemy and I’m telling everyone the same thing….” Sandra fowler nodded at her superior, he nodded back and cut the com circuit.
Sandra quickly tossed on her duty tunic and tabbed the bridge com channel
“Bridge, Commander Harkness here.” A young soprano came over the com as the 22 year old Commander’s face appeared on the screen.
“Harkness, order all division ships at action stations, Beat to quarters.”
“Aye ma’am!” The young woman snapped a salute and cut the com channel, an instant later the loud sounds of klaxons and drums echoed throughout the corridors of the ships of the 2nd SD division as they joined the primary battle line which was already forming up.
[one hour later]
“Admiral enemy fleet in weapons range in two zero seconds, tactical confirms their combat SD’s are in line of battle, the carriers and minesweeper SD’s are pulling back.” The air on the bridge of Superior was so thick with tension Babcock felt as if he could reach up and grab it by the fistful, as he watched the main plot on his flag deck he clenched a fist and turned his head to the main screen which was showing the 13 ships ahead of them.
“Thank you tactical, order all ships of the main line to set a course that will allow our line to meet theirs as quickly as possible, I want those SD’s out of commission before we worry about the fighters from the carriers.”
“Aye sir, new estimate on Weapon range is one five seconds.”
Tyson watched the main plot as if it was a predator standing ready to pounce upon him, he just couldn’t shake that feeling that something was wrong, it just didn’t make any sense until….
“We’ve got new targets!” The tactical officer shouted even as the main plot showed 14 new Super dreadnoughts appear in the middle of his fleet, already in a line of battle.
Damn it intel was wrong, they do have cloaking devices Babcock thought furiously as he turned around to redirect his fleet.
“Reform the line of battle, to engage both groups of hostiles, con order all divisions not in the main line to engage as they can.” Even as he gave the first order of the battle the master display came to life as the enemy line that had just uncloaked opened fire in a single massive broadside.
Blackbird’s bridge:
“[censored]! Enemy ships uncloaking two five thousand klicks off!” the tactical officer aboard the 2nd SD division flagship barely managed to get his sentence out before the enemy line opened fire in a single devastating broadside…..a broadside Fowler realized to her horror was focused entirely upon her division!
“Oh God, Catherine’s gone, and Anasazi!” the tactical officer’s voice strained as the last distress calls of the dying ships came over the speakers.
“Helm turn us about, give them our broadside now!” Fowler’s voice cracked with agony as another light code vanished from her division display, signaling the death of Hawkwing and another leaving Warden a burning wreck in space.
“Aye Commodore turning us to broadside, gunnery crews achieving lock in….” the tactical officer never finished his sentence as two enemy SD’s broadsides slammed into Blackbird simultaneously, tearing chunks out of her hull and turning other portions into massive splinters that spread death among the crew like a scythe. The tactical officer’s face vanished into a bloody pulp of gore as his console erupted in front of him and smashed his vac suit’s visor into his face with a force that shattered bone and tore flesh.
Another shard of wreckage tore the helmsman in half and passed on to slice through another crewman with remarkable ease, a fiery blast sent molten metal straight into the com section killing all four crewman in the blink of an eye.
Fowler screamed as a piece of debris cut into her back, another explosion tore her command chair loose and sent it, and her flying across the bridge like she was nothing but a rag doll. After what seemed like an eternity her chair slammed to the deck, unfortunately it threw her body straight into a spear like piece of wreckage, as she felt the sudden surprising pain in her chest as the wreckage impaled her Fowler’s last thoughts were of her friends, her family, and William Ross, she had never told him….in one blinding flash her pain came to an end, as the Blackbird’s quantum reactor breached and a new star was born in the sky for several minutes as the once proud ship and her noble crew vanished in a fury of fire and light.
Flag Deck Superior:
“The entire division!?” Babcock tried to keep the fury out of his voice as his com officer nodded, tears streaming down his face even through the iron discipline of the navy.
“Yes sir, the entire 2nd SD division is gone, I’m reading life pods and vac suit rescue beacons but the ships themselves are all gone.” his voice cracked in sorrow as he passed on the news.
“Sir we are in firing position all ships of the main line have targets, and independent fire divisions also have the sight, permission to fire?” the tactical officer’s voice cut through the air like a knife as the fury in his voice reared it’s head, an entire division of Icaran super dreadnoughts had been destroyed in less then ten minutes and by all that’s holy the Icarans would have their revenge. “Sir enemy fighters in the air, two five zero bogies and counting, point defenses are acquiring!”
“Permission to fire granted.” Babcock spat the order out like it was a foul taste and turned about to face his main plot.
Two hundred and fifty enemy fighters raced towards the Icaran fleet like angry hornets, but their prey had stingers of their own, as hundreds of point defense missiles raced from the Icarans to meet the incoming threat space it’s self seemed to come to life in a brilliant ballet of lights and colors as missiles honed in on their targets and desperate fighter pilots dodged and weaved in every conceivable pattern in an attempt to shake the Icaran weapons, unfortunately for the Andermanian pilots the sky was too thick with missiles- at least three for every incoming fighter- and hundreds of explosions soon joined the light show as the fighter waves flew into their deaths before even reaching weapon’s range of the Icaran line.
Seconds later the Icaran main line of battle and independent fire divisions turned their wrath on the Andermanian main line crushing ten of the enemy super dreadnoughts in a single hellish minute, as more Icaran divisions came into the firing line even more fire was poured into the Andermanian main line, destroying two of the enemy carriers and shattering the hull of another enemy SD.
“Sir, Sumter‘s been hit in her reactor room, she’s signaling distress to all fleet ships…” the com officer stopped speaking as a brilliant flash within the Icaran main line of battle forced the screen to darken to protect the eyes of the flag deck crew. When the flash cleared all that was left of Sumter was her forward hull and boat bay, everything aft of the main reactor room had burned up when the reactor went critical.
“Enemy survivors are attempting to withdraw from engagement sir, I read four minesweepers, three carriers, three mine layers and four SD combatants turning tail.” The tactical officer kept his voice level and crisp even thought it was clear that he as most of the others wanted to pursue and destroy the last remnants of the enemy fleet that had hurt them so badly.
“Order independent fire divisions to take on those SD combatants, main line of battle is to hunt down the carriers and non-combatants.” Babcock would have loved to chase down the enemy warships and blown them to hell himself but the way they were scattering his divisions of the main line were closest to the carriers and non-combatants.
“One five zero enemy fighters have just launched!” the tactical officer hissed as the Icaran line chased down the carriers.
The enemy fighters died swiftly as Icaran I-lasers and defense missiles swept them from the sky like gnats, two of the enemy mine-layers and one of the carriers joined the fighters in death swiftly as the twelve Icaran SD’s that remained in the main line of battle tore through them with broadside after broadside the other carriers died even faster as they were overtaken by the SD’s.
“Remaining enemy ships are destroyed Admiral, though Hercules reports fires on several decks and heavy losses sustained to enemy fire, other ships throughout the fleet reporting minor damage and losses.” The com officer’s voice shook with a mix of fatigue, sorrow, and victory as the casualty lists came in.
Babcock shook his head as he collapsed back into his command chair, the entire battle and pursuit had lasted less then two hours, that was the way these kinds of battles went, he told himself grimly, tens of thousands of lives lost and dozens of ships blown apart so quickly that it felt almost unreal when it was all over. Those holo drama’s wear main characters never die, and the good guys always win with minimal casualties after facing down overwhelming odds played back in Babcock’s weary mind with disgust, it never went like that in war, people died, “good guys” and “bad guys” were fictions of the media sure there were bastards out there, who deserved to die slowly and painfully, but they were on both sides of the line, but in the end it was just people-usually young people-who paid the price for the game that nations played when they chose to go to war, he never doubted for one minute that the Icaran cause was just but he knew that the Andermanian Admiral who had just led their fleet to death in a desperate attempt to hurt the Icaran fleet obviously felt that his or her own cause was the just one and to them the Icarans were merely invaders who were attempting to destroy their way of life. Babcock hid a faint grimace, as he realized just how the enemies of Icara must see him and his people, and how much they were willing to pay to stop Icara from unifying mankind under a single banner.
His thoughts returned to the losses he had sustained and the personal pain and grief he felt at the loss of Commodore Sandra Fowler, a pain that grew shaper when he remembered that her 31st birthday was only five months away, she was so young, yet still many thousands of other younger men and women died with her.
“Admiral sir, I’m detecting an Icaran Admiralty code messenger pod….”
Icara:
The main hall of Icara’s Imperial palace was filled with thousands of reporters, citizens, and soldiers, all of whom had come to attend the memorial service for the losses sustained in the 1st battle of Nepsis….many people had already spoken including the Praetor, the head of the Church of Icara, and nearly a dozen other politico’s but at this moment the hall was silent as a lone man stepped up to the podium, wearing the brilliant red tunic and black pants of the navy’s mess dress uniform, as he reached the podium a soft voice announced Admiral Lord William Ross, commander 3rd fleet as speaker.
Ross cleared his throat to cover over the fresh wave of grief came on, he cleared his throat again and looked up from the podium, and saw the huge audience and the dozens of cameras, and forced himself to work up the nerve to speak.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, we have all learned of the recent battle in the Nepsis star system, and we all know of the deaths that resulted from this battle, many of you are hear to grieve friends, family or loved ones who paid the ultimate price to spread the Imperial order Icara has brought to the hundreds of worlds we now control.” Ross paused and looked down again.
“I also know that for many of you that doesn’t mean a damn thing, because you know that no matter how or why your loved ones died, they are gone from you, gone for the rest of your life, I too know the feeling of loss, for a dear friend of mine, a woman who I often thought of as the kid sister I never had was slain that grim terrible day as well, but instead of feeling anger at the cause of her death I feel pride, pride that I knew her, pride that she was willing to put her life on the line for the betterment of mankind, forget about politics, forget who’s right and who’s wrong if you must, and focus on this, your loved ones died to bring not just Icara betterment, but all of mankind, they died so that one day in the future no more would our children, friends and loved ones die in wars far from home, they died so that one day mankind can rise together and say “We are one!” “One nation, one people, and never again shall we raise arms against our brothers!” Ross paused as hundreds of people began to cheer for a moment before returning to a more “respectful” silence.
“Those soldiers who have died should be remembered not with anger, with pain yes, with fondness yes, but not with anger for they died fighting for you, and for me, and for future generations, so please don’t rage at the soldiers that lived, don’t hate the government that sent your loved ones to battle, instead pray for the safety of our fighting men and women that have yet to return home, and pray for those who will soon be deploying to the front lines to join the wars.” The Admiral looked into the crowd and felt his own emotions twist within as he saw mothers and fathers holding each other, weeping for the loss of a child, or parents and children crying for a parent who would never return, he also saw people who wept alone for the loved ones or friends they would never again see in this life. But the feelings had changed, Ross felt it lift from him like a weight, the anger began to subside, yes sorrow and fear remained but the burning anger that so many had felt had given way to the sorrow and pain of loss at long last as the anger they had used as a barrier faded away.
“Ladies and gentlemen it is my sad honor to list now the names of the starships that were destroyed, please bow your heads in a moment of silence for our fallen heroes.” the crowd fell utterly silent except for the occasional noise of a crying person or child.
Ross forced his tone into rigid formality as he began: “Those ships who shall never be forgotten by Icara are:
HMS Anasazi (SD 156) 6,000 died aboard, one hundred survived.
HMS Blackbird (SD 74) 6,100 dead (Ross choked for a moment as he knew that among those 6,100 dead was his dear friend).HMS Catherine (SD 145) 6,100 dead
HMS Hawkwing (SD 144) 6,100 dead
HMS Samson (SD 133) 5,000 dead, 1,100 survivors
HMS Sumter (SD 85) 5,600 dead, 500 survivors
HMS Warden (SD 157) 6,100 dead
We also honor, the other 3,500 spacers and officers who died that day.
Ross folded the piece of paper he had been reading from came to parade ground attention and saluted, on his example every other soldier, uniformed o retired rose to their feet and returned the salute to the dead. Ross turned about smartly and walked off the stage, his head high and his back straight-and his heart throbbing with sorrow- as he left the hall and joined Lin outside.
“Are you alright William?” she asked softly as slid a hand through the crook in his arm and gave a gentle squeeze.
“I will be Lin, it’s just so hard to believe Sandy is really gone.” William turned to face his wife and saw the sorrow in her own eyes “Are you alright my love?”
“As you said, I will be….let’s go home Wil.” she said gently and turned to walk again only to have William gently pull her back.
“Lin, I just wanted to tell you again.” William paused a moment and swallowed “I do love you Lin.” he knew he had told her that on many occasions, but with the loss of Sandra he felt his own mortality, and Lin’s like never before. She just smiled softly and raised her lips to his, their soft warmth felt like a soothing counterbalance to the cold pain in his heart and William pulled her close and savored her presence for just a moment longer before letting her go.
“Yeah, let’s go home.” he said and took her arm in his again as they both walked toward the waiting ground car.
The very next month the first fleet engaged and destroyed 11 Mantis mine layer and mine sweeper ships, 9 of which were super dreadnoughts, 2 were older battleships, 2 Empire of man minelayer super dreadnoughts were also intercepted and destroyed, unfortunately the enemy had deployed mines and three Icaran ships were heavily damaged, 1,000 more Icarans had perished in that engagement but the enemy’s losses were so much higher that even Babcock permitted himself the knowledge that they had struck a blow against their enemies.
After the battle 1st fleet turned around to abandon Nepsis as ordered and return to the more “defensible” position of their previous conquests.
Wall of the Fallen: This list is all those ships who have been lost during the Andermanian Crusade:
HMS Anasazi
HMS Blackbird
HMS Catherine
HMS Cairo
HMS Hawkwing
HMS Raven
HMS Samson
HMS Sumter
HMS Tyrant
HMS Warden[/b]
Total Icaran Losses to date in the Andermanian Crusade: 73,747 dead, 150,000 wounded.
Estimated Andermanian/Allied losses: 5 billion dead
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When life gives you lemons take them and squeeze them in life's eye until it gives you the oranges you asked for!
"If men build things to look like our penis such as towers and ships does that mean female achitects represent women having penis envy?"
A line that made me chuckle, I can't remember where I heard it I just know it made me laugh.
"I'm not really a slapper....I mainly punch and gouge."
Tammy Lee my kung fu instructor/sifu's daughter when asked if she ever slapped a boy for saying something nasty to her.
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Especially because if you "read between the lines" she also lost her legs, her chest was ripped apart (guess at what's on a woman's chest that would take surgical reconstruction and be extra painful when torn apart). So I was sort of aiming for the general OUCH of the situation LOL.
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