From the Begining New Chapter Added (9/12/06)

[Starhawk]

Some things you guys may need to know as the story goes on (so you don't get confused):

Royal Navy Ranks
Enlisted
E1= Spacer's Assistant
E2= Spacer
E3= Senior Spacer
E4= Petty Officer 2nd Class
E5= Petty Officer First Class
E6= Senior Petty Officer
E7= Cheif Petty Officer
E8= Master Chief Petty Officer
E9= Master Spacer

Officers
O1= Ensign
02= Lieutenant Junior Grade
03= Lieutenant
04= Lieutenant Commander
05= Commander/Sailing Master (if two or more commanders are permanently stationed on a starship and if one is not in the medical field the junior commander receives title Sailing Master)
O6 (when not in command of ship or base)= Brevet Captain
O6(in command of a ship or base)= Post Captain
O7= Commadore
O8= Rear Admiral
O9= Vice Admiral
O10= Star Admiral
O11(Special)= Grand Admiral of the Navy

Note: The Term Brevet is also given when a rank is unofficial or temporary. (I.E a Squadron commander with the actual rank of Captain will be referred to as "Brevet Commadore".

Army Ranks
Enlisted

E1= Trooper Recruit
E2= Trooper
E3= Trooper First Class
E4= Corporal
E5= Seargent
E6= Signifier
E8= Signifier Seargent
E9= Master Signifier

Officers
O1= Second Lieutenant
O2= First Lieutenant
O3= Captain
O4= Major
O5= Lieutenant Centurion
O6= Centurion
O7= Company General
O8= Regimental General
O9= General of the Corps
O10= Grand General of the Army

Army Stormtroopers
Enlisted

E1= Commando
E2= Senior Commando
E3= Elite
E4= Seargent

Officers
O1= Aquilifer
O2= Tessarius
O3= Centurion

Royal Marines
Enlisted

E1= Private
E2= Marine
E3= Corporal
E4= Seargent
E5= Gunnery Seargent
E6= Command Gunnery Seargent

Officers
O1= Lieutenant Second Class
O2= Lieutenant First Class
O3= Brigadier General
O4= General
O5= Comendant of the Marines

Unit Composition
Royal Navy

Section= 2 Capital Ships
Squadron= 2 Sections
Division= 3 Sections
Fleet= 2 Divisions+

Royal Army
FireTeam= 4 Men
Squad= 3 Fireteams
Section= 4 Squads
Company= 4 Sections
Brigade= 8 Companies
Regiment= 3 Brigades
Army Corps= 2+ Regiments

Storm Troopers
Ops Team= 3 Stormtroopers
Squad= 4 Ops Teams
Pursuit Group= 4 Squads
Hunter Killer Group= 4 Pursuit Groups
Assault Formation= 8 HK Groups
Purifier Force= 3 Assault Formations

Royal Marine Corps
Fireteam= 4 Marines
Squad= 3 Fireteams
Section= 4 Squads
Company= 2 Sections
Batallion= 5 Companies
Brigade= 2 Batallions


Well there you go a little Military Info (BTW the 1st 2nd and 3rd fleets are all understrength for the "official" fleet designation at the moment, however the ships are currently under construction to bring them up to and beyond the minimum requirement for the term "fleet".

P.S. Next installment is tomorrow after I re-read the draft.

[dogscoff]

Bummer. Not bummer story - GREAT story - bummer Posts.

Let me explain. I look at the topic and see a new post. I think "Great! A new chapter!" and then I get disappointed that it's only a comment.

I'm not discounting comments at all (in fact, I'm doing one now), I'm just thinking it'd be nice to have comments posted elsewhere. But then I'd probably never read 'em.

No no no! Comment Posts (and the "is it a new chapter?" anticipation you describe) are what keep a story thread alive between chapter Posts and keep interest in the story up. Trust me, authors need comment Posts.

[rdouglass]

dogscoff said:

No no no! Comment Posts (and the "is it a new chapter?" anticipation you describe) are what keep a story thread alive between chapter Posts and keep interest in the story up. Trust me, authors need comment Posts.

OK - I trust you.

Comment - great stuff. Keep it coming.

[Starhawk]

2409.9 A busy month in Gaia
It was a dull day for the crew of the cruiser HMS Brilliance, they had been blockading the same warp point ever since Trafalgar had gone into port for repairs, the crew was more then bored the were starting to become absolutely worn out, they had been responsible for the intercept of three Rebel Alliance colony ships and their cruiser had killed over one hundred million human beings mercilessly.
Captain Babcock started to wish he had his brother’s job back at the Admiralty, at least there he would not be responsible for intercepting unarmed colony ships and playing the role of butcher so that these Alliance types didn’t expand into Icaran space.

“Sir I’ve got a GFG footprint!” tactical officer Schmit sounded nervous as he studied the nav chart in front of him. Babcock had the information fed directly into his command repeaters and he swallowed hard when he saw the footprint and mass readings, it was a cruiser and the hull shape suggested it was a Solar cruiser.
Babcock snorted in disgust as he remembered the Solar ship that had destroyed an innocent ark ship without even attempting to make contact!
“Battle stations mister Schmit, all hands to battle stations!” Babcock said coldly as his tac office punched in the alert codes and the familiar sound of klaxons and alarms began their tirade.
Brilliance closed rapidly on the offending starship and within seconds her broadside came to bare, her phased poloron beams lashed out but met either empty space or the cruiser’s phased shields.
A counter volley from the Solar, brought down the Icaran’s shields and two DU cannon shells slammed into her exposed hull.
“Damage report con.”
“Engines one, two, and three gone, starboard reactor gone, aft GFG gone, sir heavy casualties reported in those sections.” Schmit nearly shouted as the sound of another explosion jerked brought his attention back to his control Boards.
Another volley from Brilliance lashed out into space and this time it got lucky, the enemy ship’s shields went down and the Last beam that actually hit the enemy cruiser managed to pierce her hull just enough to take out her ECM generator negating her prime advantage.
The counter volley struck home on Brilliance yet again, and this time it’s second shell exploded right in the heavily reinforced prow of the Icaran cruiser, taking out her forward GFG and most of her primary sensors.
“Helm take us baring one-five-three-zero-zero” Babcock’s chilly tone sounded mechanical as he almost chanted out the coordinates.
The Icaran cruiser closed point blank on the enemy cruiser, only a few hundred meters off it’s port side, then her cruiser’s powerful phased poloron cannons swung round and dealt a devastating broadside which crippled the Solar cruiser’s weapons, and most of it’s engines. Another volley turned it into an expanding sphere of flame.

“Helm take us to Goin base for repairs.” Babcock’s voice had returned to normal as he read the damage and casualty reports, out of a crew of 2,000 he lost 50 dead and had 120 wounded, and his ship had the living hell beaten out of it.

The Price of Victory
Rear Admiral Yu Hing Pe sat quietly aboard the bridge of the Icaran cruiser Torment which orbited Handra base with the other warships of the 3rd fleet. He grinned at the thought of his small squadron being called a fleet, six ships didn’t even meet the official minimum requirement for the name fleet. He had just received his orders from the Admiralty and his fleet was getting supplies and equipment loaded aboard from Handra’ supply facility before they set course for the Fornax system to join the two ships of the Enterprise section.
“Admiral Yu?” the soft voice of his flag captain Allison Hickock sounded concerned as she saw the face of her Admiral.
“They want us to attack the largest base in Fornax before linking up with Ross’ ships and continuing on.” Yu’s voice was quiet enough so that only his Flag Captain could hear the concern in his voice, intelligence reports from the Enterprise and Wardo base had suggested that the Phong had one of their bases there in preparation for an assault on Handra and that left the Admiralty with no choice but to take out that base and all the warships that may be there when he arrived but with only 6 starships Yu hardly felt confident about his chances. But his orders were clear and he intended to carry them out come hell or high water.

Two days later the ships of the 3rd fleet left Handra base and made the jump into the Fornax system, their target lay ahead of them and the fleet immediately formed a battle line, HMS Torment holding the center of the line.
“Admiral I’m detecting one-five enemy destroyers closing fast from their base, radar also detects satellites in orbit around our objective.” Tactical officer Browler’s face was pale as he saw the sheer number of enemy ships coming their way, they had two cruisers two light cruisers and two destroyers vs. that entire fleet.
“Alright tell HMS Victorious to hold her position on our left flank with Retribution, King Roger and Manticore will hold the left. Inform them that Torment and Pollux will hold at our center.” Yu analyzed the formation that was coming at him with some hope, they were approaching in an old style arrowhead formation which meant that his line of battle formation may be able to defeat the oncoming warships in segments, unfortunately the arrowhead favored the destroyers because of their sheer numbers 15 to 6 was hardly an even match and he knew it.

Instead of heading straight into the Icaran battle line the Phong fleet attempted to flank them, Yu’s force moved to intercept and prevent themselves from being flanked but with their approach only the left flank would be in firing position for several minutes, fortunately they were also two of the heavy ships in the formation Retribution being one of two light cruisers in the Icaran navy, the other being Victorious which was one of the newest cruisers in the navy.
The Phong fleet closed in on the Icarans but the two warships on the Icaran got into firing position first and the Cruiser Victorious laid a devastating broadside into the closest Phong destroyer, the energy cannons caused the destroyer’s hull to buckle, whole sections of the destroyer began melting or exploding under the force of the beams clawing at it in rapid succession, within seconds the Phong destroyer ceased to exist and Victorious was seeking her next victim. The Icaran light cruiser also scored a kill before the startled Phong formation brought their own cannons to bare on the two warships.
Shell after shell slammed into the shields of Victorious and Retribution yet they held against the fire and the two Icaran warships sought out two more victims and within the blink of an eye only 11 Phong destroyers remained, unfortunately the counter fire this time was too much for the shields of Victorious and her hull erupted in flame where the shells scored home. Three of her engines were gone and all but three of her cannons but Commodore Stein refused to pull his ship out of the fight and his broadside crippled another enemy destroyer.
“Get us into that fight Helm!” Yu said bitterly as he watched Retribution turn another destroyer into floating debris….the Admirals eyes squinted as he saw another volley impact on Victorious unprotected hull.
“Sir message fro Retribution Commodore Stein’s flag bridge was destroyed, he’s dead sir as his command staff Victorious is withdrawing from the battle.” Com officer Jessup’s voice was more then a little shocked as he saw the battered hull of Commodore Stein’s flagship withdraw from the battle, leaving the Light Cruiser alone.
The Phong were fortunately using a kind of mount for their weapons that allowed them much longer range then the standard DU cannons that the IRN had used on their older ships but the Phong cannons also had much reduced accuracy, which was probably the only reason Retribution was still alive and fighting.
HMS Torment and Pollux finally closed the range with the Phong warships, two destroyers rapidly died under the firepower that the two warships unleashed, 7 Phong warships still remained however and two were pursuing the shattered remains of the cruiser Victorious.
“Commodore Hanson, reports his warships are in position to intercept those two Phong Destroyers sir, he recommends we sustain fire on the main formation.” Jessup’s voice sounded relieved as he saw the two light codes for the Icaran destroyers closing in on the enemy warships that were pursuing Victorious.
“My compliments to Hanson and inform him we will sustain engagement with their main body.” Yu said calmly as he saw another enemy destroy vanish beneath the fire of his warship. Two more enemy warships died rapidly as the other two warships brought their fire to bare.
The missiles from the two Icaran destroyers quickly brought the two warships chasing the Victorious to a halt, rapidly ending their pursuit with a volley of cannon shells and seconds after that another volley of missiles finished them off in two brilliant flashes of light.
“Sir two enemy ships closing on our port, INCOMING!” Browler’s voice was cut short as three cannon shells tore into Torment’s shields, a fourth shell impacted on the cruiser’s hull taking out two of her engines in the process.
“Return fire!” Flag Captain Hancock shouted over the din of damage alerts, her cruiser shook again as a secondary explosion tore open her aft gravity field generator.
The Retribution and Pollux moved into position beside their flagship and their combined salvo destroyed the remaining destroyers, it was only then that Yu was able to notice of Commodore Hanson had moved his destroyers into position near the enemy base, sadly their missiles were torn apart by the numerous point defense stations on the planet and its satellites.
“Sir Manticore is taking fire from the planet!” Jessup hissed as the displays showed multiple hits impacign on the unshielded destroyer. “King Roger is moving in to cannon range sir, she’s firing….I’m reading impacts on the surface, I think she got one of those weapon platforms.”
“Tell Pollux to follow us in, order Retribution to stay with Victorious in case any more enemy ships come into range.”
“Aye sir transmitting orders.”

Moments later HMS King Roger exploded into a ball of flames as she tried to shield the battle damaged Manticore.
The cruiser and two light cruisers that were still in fighting trim approached the enemy base, unfortunately Torment was the first to discover the range that the remaining planetary weapons platform truly had, her unshielded hull was rent by eight cannon shells.
Admiral Yu regained consciousness enough to see that his bridge had been exposed to vacuum and that most of his bridge crew was gone, the injured Yu looked over to his right where Captain Hancock was strapped to her seat and noticed that her helmet’s faceplate was opaque with blood, he glanced downward and saw a massive piece of debris embedded in her chest.
A brilliant light grabbed his attention back to where his ship’s view screen had used to be and his Last thoughts were of his son, who was a Captained a cruiser in the 1st fleet, then the light drew nearer and nearer, then an all encompassing flash ended the life of Admiral Yu and the lives of his crew as the massive shell tore apart the remnants of Torment.
The dead were avenged quickly however as the two light cruisers destroyed the satellites and weapon platforms that were defending the base, the base was soon destroyed as the Icaran warships opened up on it’s surface.
15 Phong destroyers and one of their most important bases in Fornax had been destroyed but the Icaran 3rd fleet had paid dearly for their victory, Victorious and Manticore had to be towed by the two light cruisers, Torment and King Roger had died with all hands including Admiral Yu.
The Icaran dead numbered 2,800 and the 3rd fleet was neutralized as an effective fighting force.

Meanwhile on the other end of the Fornax system Enterprise Farrogot and Saber successfully engaged and destroyed 4 Phong destroyers, suffering only 81 dead and 150 wounded.

[Starhawk]

2410.0 A change of Flags
Commodore William Ross sat alone in his briefing room aboard HMS Enterprise, he had just come from the memorial service held for Rear Admiral Yu, the second he got back aboard his own ship he came straight to his briefing room and turned out the lights so he could be alone with his thoughts. The Admiral had been his tactical combat instructor back when Ross was still a snotty or “little gentleman” as they were supposed to be called-but never were-Ross frowned even deeper as he remembered the first time he had met Yu Lin Pe, the Admiral’s daughter was a first form midshipman like him and she had thrown him about three meters across the gym during unarmed combat training, he still remembered the smile on her face as she helped him up-and that it was a genuine smile of satisfaction and not an arrogant one of triumph-, and the look of pride on her father’s face-and the grin as he watched a 15 year old boy's face go fusion at getting thrown by a 1.5 meter tall girl who weighed less then 40 kilos-.
Chin Pe, the Admiral’s son had even been his roommate for two years and often Ross would have dinner with the Admiral’s family when the Academy was between forms….he decided rather quickly he liked the Admiral and his family even though they came from a low nobility and he was just a commoner.
On the day Saber launched from her port on Icara Ross remembered that the whole Yu family had all been there, Chin teased him about his habit of getting lost and Lin (then a commander waiting for her chance at command) gave him one of her typically strong handshakes and a hug as she told him not to get into any trouble, well he had gotten in trouble he got all Icara in trouble and they’d lost millions of lives already and in a way it was his fault. And now thanks to him stumbling across a hostile race Admiral Yu was dead, before even getting the chance to learn that his daughter had received her own command HMS Blackbird in the 1st fleet just like his son had recieved command of HMS Eclipse three months ago. Ross’ eyes began to tear up as he thought of how proud Hing would have been of his youngest child as she donned the red and black tri-point hat of a post captain for the first time (even though they wer never actually worn aboard ship they went back to the days of sail and the Royal Navy loved tradition)Ross thought about how her elegent features would have looked in a Captain's formal uniform, and he realized sadly how much he cared about the young woman....which made him feel even worse as if he were betraying her father somehow, even though he had chosen never to do anything about his feelings for her, or did he feel he betrayed her father by not doing anything about it? Either way she was 300 lightyears away now and he could do nothing about it....his depression rose as the feelings of loss drew closer to the surface.

The door chimed quietly and Ross snapped back to the present and made sure he covered his grief.
“Come.” His voice was still shaky but he was managing to get it under control
“Sir, a messenger drone has just arrived from the Admiralty, there is a packet of sealed orders for you, as well as Messages from Yu Chin Pe and Yu Lin Pe.” Captain Fowler’s voice was quiet as she handed her Commodore the envelope with his orders, she silently handed him the two Flexy’s from Admiral Yu’s children.
Ross quickly unsealed the envelope and saw a sheet of honest to god paper within it, in this day and age the Admiralty only used real paper for the most formal of occasions, his eyes quickly scanned the paper and his breath caught in his throat. As he saw Captain Fowler turn around to leave Ross held up his hand to stop her.
“Is everything alright Commodore?” She asked quietly.
“I’m not a Commodore anymore Sandra.” His voice still sounded shocked as he re-read the piece of paper in his hands.
“Sir?” Sandra’s face turned red as she saw the look on Ross’ face and thought he had been dismissed from his command.
“The Admiralty, has bestowed upon me the rank of Rear Admiral, they’ve given me command of the 3rd fleet such as it is, and have given me the authority to give field promotions to a captain, two commanders, and three Lieutenants.” His face lit up and for the first time since the messenger drone from the third fleet had arrived.
“Congratulations sir!” Fowler said as she gave him an enthusiastic handshake, her smile was almost as broad as his as she beamed at her new Admiral.
“Thanks Sandy, I’m going to need a new Captain for Retribution when Drake’s promoted to Commodore and you have my priority, that is if your up to it?” He asked almost cheerfully, it was her turn to be shocked this time and after a moment of obvious disbelief thought she started nodding.
“Well then Captain Fowler, when I make Captain Drake’s promotion to Commodore official you’ll take over as captain of Retribution,…and stop nodding before you break your neck.” Ross laughed again as the young woman realized she hadn’t stopped nodding and suddenly flushed when it was pointed out.

The list of Promotions and reassignments in the 3rd fleet are as follows:
Captain Sandra Fowler Transferred from HMS Saber to HMS Retribution
Commander Sarah Pallins former exec HMS Enterprise promoted to Flag Captain and given command of HMS Victorious.
Captain Thomas Drake former commander HMS Victorious promoted to Commodore and given command [i]HMS Pollux[/i.

[Starhawk]

2411.0
Ensign Liza Adair had been in the prison cells on the Icaran colony of Tathys IX for a long time now, such a long time that she knew most of the guards by their first names and even made a few friends among them. She still had no illusions though she was over a thousand light years from the nearest Alliance world and she was a prisoner, no matter how nicely the guards treated her and her fellow Alliance POWs.
The interrogators decided she didn’t know anything of value about the Alliance only three months into her incarceration, and she was glad of it because the drugs they used to make her talk also made her throw up rather violently after they settled into her system. Her compatriots were not the only Prisoners here either, she had seen a group of men that didn’t look like anyone back on New Haven, they were shorter then the average Rebel and their skin color was an olive complexion and their heir was dark compared to the fairer features of the Rebs, they also spoke a language she had never heard before but she did remember hearing them mention some place called Nuovo Roma and there used to be an empire who’s capital was called Rome back on old Earth thousands of years ago.
She also saw a handful of others that looked like some of the Solarans her own people picked up after a skirmish on their borders and she often wondered just how far these Icarans were expanding and how long they were going to keep her and the other Alliance personnel prisoner.

The heavy thump of armored boots was not all that unusual in the prison corridors but this time Adair noted that there was a much softer clap that sounded like a standard Icaran jackboot, one that their army officers wore when not in battle. A few moments later the door to her cell slid open and two armored troopers stepped in the door, they both carried stunners at the ready and she smirked, a trooper in full armor was around 1.8 to 2 meters tall and a single backhand could break a human’s jaw easily so the stunners were really just for show.
An officer stepped forward wearing the black trench coat, the jackboots and the black cap with the Icaran eagle emblazoned on it. His rank insignia suggested a Colonel or at least she thought they did, her casual analysis ended abruptly when she noticed the grim look on his face, she immediately straightened her shoulders and looked him straight in the eyes.
“Miss Adair, as senior surviving officer of the Alliance Personnel on this base you are to inform the rest of your compatriots that you are to be released in four hours.” He saw her shocked expression and a brief grin crossed his face. “The war is over, but before you rejoice I must inform you that the reason the war is over is because your nation has been absorbed into the Icaran Empire, they’ve surrendered.” the Colonel actually looked remorseful as he handed her the flexy with the information.
For a stunned moment she couldn’t believe it, her people were in an economic decline because of their lack of valuable planets in their space, her destroyed task force was a massive economic investment, and with it’s destruction would likely never have been replaced in all the time that she had been in prison. But even with that economic decline and the military defeats they had suffered she just couldn’t imagine her entire alliance surrendering, after the realization sank in she collapsed down onto her bunk and tears swelled in her eyes.
“I’ll leave you too it then miss Adair, but you have to meet your shuttle in four hours.” the Colonel turned about smartly and went through the doorway leaving Adair in stunned silence.

Public Speech by Praetor Leonidas XIV
“Today Citizens of Icara the greatest victory our people have ever achieved thus far was confirmed by our diplomatic corps, The so called Rebel Alliance leadership contacted our pickets just over a month ago and surrendered their worlds to our Empire.” Praetor Leonidas paused as the crowds cheered and called out their praise, he then raised his hands to bring silence to the thousands of citizens who had massed in Icara City’s “Public Square”.
“Ladies and gentlemen, though these planets will one day bring our nation’s strength to double what it was before the Alliance surrendered they are currently poor worlds with crumbling economies, we have a responsibility to bring these worlds into the fold wholeheartedly and fully, there are over 6 billion Rebels that are no doubt confused and quiet a few will likely be resistant to the change that is coming their way. The are used to that feeble governmental system of Democracy, where every citizen has a voice and where the rich are practically above the law…..for this very reason our Empire had long ago abandoned Democracy for the much stronger government we have today.” Leonidas smiled broadly as he heard the cheering crowds.
Democracy was long ago considered to be a foolish form of government by all Icaran people as a “rule by the mob” was considered to be too fragile for a nation that believed in it’s right to expand and believed God chose the line of Praetors personally, and so Praetors were seen as more then rulers, they were living saints to their people and more often then not lived up to the expectations their people held out for them. So it was that when the Rebel Alliance surrendered it was seen as a justified expansion of Icara for the good of it’s people, and as Leonidas promised them, some day Icara would rule over not just one human nation but instead over every human world and every Phong world in the galaxy! For it Was their divine right to rule and they would never yield as long as even one Icaran drew breath to carry on the fight to unify mankind under Icara’s Praetor saint!

[Renegade 13]

Dictatorship prevails, democracy falls....

Another set of awesome stories!

[Starhawk]

You call it dictatorship they call it logical

2411.2 Dawn of a New Era
HMS Hawkwing, the first of the General class heavy cruisers was launched from Handra base only a month after her keel was laid, there was of course a reason for her rapid launch, an entire Phong destroyer division had been located by sensor probes, hiding in the Escandor system’s asteroid belt and it was the considered opinion of the Handra base commander that they were intending on launching an assault to destroy the Icaran base.
Hawkwing was a massive vessel at 600,000 tons, she dwarfed a cruiser by a clear 50 meters and was manned by a crew of 3,000. Her firepower and shielding matched her size and it was believed by her designers that if handled right Hawkwing could take on an entire Phong Squadron by herself.
That theory was soon to be put into test as she set course for the asteroid belt at maximum military power not even pausing for a shakedown cruise.

“Captain Palmer, we are closing in on the belt I am detecting those destroyers but I don’t think they can see us.” Tac officer Gregor sounded very satisfied as the new sensors picked up the six enemy ships that thought they were hidden.
“Thank you Tactical, let’s just hope those new sensors that BuDesign came up with do as well in combat.” Captain Palmer’s grin was obvious from across the bridge as watched the command repeaters at his station. 6 destroyers on staggered formation within a belt of thousands of rocks of various sizes.
“Helm take us in as close to those asteroids as you can manage without crashing into them, let’s see if we can surprise those destroyers shall we.”
“Aye captain plotting a course now.”

The massive form of Hawkwing slid silently along the asteroid belt for nearly two hours all the while closing on her unsuspecting prey. As the heavy cruiser swung round the first destroyer came into her weapons range.
“Guns, open fire!” Palmer’s voice was excited as he watched the targeting sensors achieve locks on the first enemy ship.
“Firing aye.”
In an eye blink beam after beam of highly charged phased polorons cut across space and sliced again and again into the armored hull of the Phong warship, debris and atmosphere began pouring away from the destroyer in massive clouds…less then a minute later the destroyer exploded.
“Damn good shooting guns.” Captain Palmer’s voice was praiseful as he saw the expanding cloud of gas and wreckage.

The other five destroyers were aware of his ships presence however and they quickly closed the range and opened fire with broadside after broadside pouring across space, many of the explosive shells detonated on asteroids while others missed entirely the few that did manage to find Hawkwing did no damage as the splashed across the heavy cruiser’s hull.

The Icaran’s counter fire was far more devastating however as yet another broadside cut a Phong destroyer into pieces, a second broadside against another destroyer sent it spinning out of control as it’s engines exploded.
The three enemy destroyers still in combat range closed in on the heavy cruiser, firing as they came but this time their fire was totally ineffective and Palmer’s smile broadened as he realized it was his ship’s ECM generator that kept the Phong from getting a lock on him.
“Sir I’ve got two more of those destroyers locked on.”
“Thank you guns, take them out. Helm run us right down their throats.”
“Aye sir, putting maximum thrust, closing.”
The Icaran heavy cruiser accelerated into ranges so close Palmer felt like he could just spit out his gun ports and hit one of those yellow bastards, the broadside Hawkwing dealt to the first enemy destroyer turned it into a plasma ball and debris field, the second destroyer that met her fire also erupted into a ball of fire as it had been damaged previously by Hawkwing.
“Sir incoming!” Gregor frowned as he watched his display. Almost before his sentence was finished three shells slammed into the heavy cruiser’s shields but to the relief of everyone aboard their ship’s strong shields simply shrugged off the fire.
“Guns, let’s make sure that destroyer gets our compliments for his gunnery skills.” Palmer’s voice was relaxed and cool even as he saw the smirks on the faces of his bridge crew.
The aforementioned destroyer did receive Hawkwing’s “compliments” barely a minute later as she was torn to pieces by the powerful cannons that had already destroyed 4 of her comrades only minutes before.
The sixth and final destroyer died less then fifteen minutes later as the heavy cruiser achieved lock through an asteroid that the destroyer was attempting to hide behind, both the destroyer and it’s hiding place erupted in fire and rock as the heavy cruiser’s broadside came to bare.

“Damage report tactical?” Palmer’s voice was slightly anxious as he awaited the reply.
“Sir, no damage, medical reports we do have a minor injury from an energy feedback caused when that Last shell impacted the shields though.” Gregor turned around and smiled cheerfully at his captain, this was probably the first naval battle in history where six warships had been destroyed by one and no fatalities were sustained by the victor.
“Well then, Helm take us to the Fornax warp point and hold position until new orders come through.”

[Starhawk]

2411.3 Wasp’s Sting
Captain Thomas Cadel ran down the corridors of the Tempel II military base, the nine other pilots of the 1st Wasp squadron ran beside and behind him as the battle alarms screamed.
“What the hell is going on?” Lieutenant Paris shouted as she buttoned her flight suit.
“A Phong battle group got through the warp point before those navy boys could intercept ‘em, so that leaves us!” Cadel’s was tense as he they made it to the small flight bay which held the 10 Wasp star fighters that made up his entire command (there were supposed to be 30 before he launched) he thought bitterly.

The Wasp fighter was a small one man fighter craft with two auto cannons which could fire 2,000 depleted Uranium rounds per minute and could out maneuver the cannons of a capital ship. It was an experiment commissioned by Admiral Babcock before he took command of the 1st fleet and Cadel was the first Pilot trained to fly these new star fighters into combat unfortunately for him his squadron was only 1/3 completed when the 8 Phong destroyers had been detected near their planet.
The Wasp fighters were designed specifically for fighting on the Phong front, their weapons would not have done much damage too a heavily shielded ship such as those on the Sol or NeoStar fronts and were also far cheaper then a capital ship-most of which had to be diverted to guard the Solar/Neo Star borders in case either of those powers launched any further sneak attacks.

Two hours later Cadel and his squadron were spaceborne and closing on their first target, the lead Phong warship, one of their “Fearless’ class destroyers that seemed to form the bulk of their navy.
“Alright Lads, get lock on that first lil’ bastard and let’s try and keep them away from Tempel.”
“Alright boss, we’ll keep em out of tempel.”
“Lad heh right sir”
“Sorry Janet sometimes I forget” Cadel enjoyed a brief laugh, he still had twenty minutes to close on the enemy and he wanted his people loose and relaxed when the time came to fight, he had trained with them for months now and they had all become very close, but more then that he knew he could rely on them no matter what, even though the odds were very much against them.

Twenty minutes later the 10 fighters of Wasp 1 squadron “Puking Dogs” had closed in on the first destroyer And space lit up as it brought it’s cannons to bare on the approaching fighters. Cadel’s own fighter rocked and shook as the shells screamed past him at nearly 3,000 gravities of acceleration.
Cadel worried for a second until he let his eyes drift to his in helmet HUD and saw all ten of his fighters still at his wing.
“Alright lads and lassies, let’s show this bastard to hell!” Cadel squeezed his triggers and the cannons mounted in the nose of his fighter opened up with a fury, as did those of his squad mates. Thousands of rounds poured out of the fighters as they strafed along the enemy ships hull and explosions erupted all across it’s hull tearing open section after section and destroying multiple subsystems and sending it spinning out of formation.
Every alarm in Cadel’s fighter began to blare as the enemy warships turned about to focus all of their attention on his squadron, but he and his fellows were already hunting down their second target a strafing run on that destroyer proved equally effective and it’s crew managed to lug her about and attempted to withdraw from the battle zone.
“Sir, I think they’re scared now, they’ve all turned about and are pursuing us.” the voice of Ensign Chaplain sounded excited as he turned about to join his squadron on their third victim.
A strafing run on the third ship was less effective and it still had a cannon left after their pass.
“Sir should we turn around and reengage?” Janet’s voice came over the com net but Cadel shook his head, forgetting he was alone in his fighter.
“Negative Jan, move on to the fourth target our goal is to cripple their ability to destroy Tempel not go goose hunting.”
“What’s a Goose sir?”
“Forget about it Jan. We’ve still got incoming!”
More shells poured into space as the Destroyers desperately tried to kill their assailants to no avail the smaller Wasps continued to sting again and again across the fourth and then fifth targets doing heavy damage, the fifth still had a cannon remaining and continued to fire defiantly.
“Sir that sixth destroyer’s got good gunners, they getting to close to me here I’m getti….” the voice of Ensign Janavits suddenly cut off
“Oh Jesus!” Janet shouted through the com as she just barely dodged the exploding wreckage of her wing mate.
“Stay calm, stay calm now get the lock on that bastard.” Cadel swore inside and out in his mind yet he could not let his anger cloud his orders or his whole squadron might join the young pilot who had just died.
The sixth destroyer paid in blood for it’s single successful hit as the nine remaining fighters blew apart it’s entire armament, spilling bodies and wreckage into space…..the destroyer limped away at less then a quarter speed.
The fighters of the Puking Dogs did not relent as the seventh destroyer was quickly put out of combat with another strafing run by the wasp attackers. The eight destroyer fought more valiantly, yet it did no damage to the Icaran fighter squadron and it too was quickly put out of action.
“Alright now let’s finish this!” Cadel’s voice was pure hatred as his fighters swung round against the two closely packed destroyers they had just crippled.
A second pass was all it took and both destroyers went up in brilliant fireballs as thousands of DU shells tore through hull and crew alike.
“Sir I’ve got six running, we can’t go after them all.” Janet’s voice was also full of hate as she realized their vengeance would not be complete.
A third destroyer was quickly overtaken and it’s hull erupted into fire as the nine fighters blew it apart with ease.
“Got a lock, Janet you want the honor?” Cadel’s voice was back to it’s calm command tone but he still felt the burning hatred in his heart, that destroyer had been the one who killed one of his pilots and it would pay.
“Thanks sir, Okay Beta team follow me.”
Moments later her and the other 4 fighters of the Puking Dogs Beta team dove in against the enemy vessel and tore it to shreds with their cannons.
“Sir we’ve got Phong escape pods here, orders?” Janet had already swung her fighters back around but Cadel knew she wouldn’t fire unless ordered, and he saw absolutely no reason not to give that order.
“Take ‘em out Jan”

In another sweep with their cannons eight Phong escape pods ceased to exist, and the Wasp 1st squadron Puking Dogs set course for home.

Less then two days later the Cruiser HMS Warspite assisted by the Puking Dogs pinned down and destroyed the remaining Phong warships, no enemies survived.
Only 1 Icaran pilot had died, the other 9 had achieved an astounding victory and were awarded the Icaran “Iron Cross” for valor above and beyond the call.

[Starhawk]

2411.9
Five objects launched from Handra base silently, no fanfare followed the launch of the craft like normall followed the launch of a capital ship, in fact barely anyone on Handra knew about the units that had just launched.

Silently as they exited the warp point the five unmanned drones set course for their targets, four Phong bases in the Fornax system each drone carried 3 multi-megaton warheads that were each capable of leveling entire cities with a single strike, yet they had been designed not for a single strike but for atmospheric separation each warhead would detach from the drone’s main hull and deploy using micro thrusters to it’s designated target.
Only a week after their entry into Fornax the mysterious objects were picked up on Phong radar, but it was already too late for interception and three Phong Worlds with Millions of lives vanished in the course of a single day, the drones knew no mercy and took no prisoners their simple AI’s knew only to attack and they carried out their suicide missions with unfeeling efficiency, much to the satisfaction of the Admiralty who would not have to risk the lives of thousands of Icaran officers and Ratings to neutralize those worlds.

A minor chapter yes but those thre worlds that died saved me a lot of hassle in the long run as each of them had weapons platforms (fortunately not very accurate ones hehe).

Trust me the next chapter will be much more exciting and action packed as the largest battle and longest period of combat in the game took place only a month after those drones nuked those worlds.