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Preemptive Strike: FINAL CONFRONTATION


Blades
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[RP]

The bleeding from Bigtone's wound had finally stopped, and thankfully for the heavyset man, he was still clearheaded. In the backseat, he was the first to notice something new in the scope. "Hey, Banish, got somethin' new back there. Looks like one of our shuttles."

"Let's go take a look, then." Banish said as he eased the throttle back, and turned toward the shuttle. Pulling up alongside the shuttle, he saw a head turn to look at them. Then over the commlink he heard; "Banish? Is that you? Neena has instructed us to go after that probe. You are to provide cover. We've got a probe to find."

Banish recognized the voice as McKendrick. When he got on a first name basis with the XO however was a mystery. A mystery that could be solved later on. Activating his own commlink he said, "Right with you, McKendrick. Let's find that *******, and blow it out of the stars."

Time grew short. Banish only hoped they had enough of it left to do their job.

[/RP]

---------------------

Robert "Banish" Anderson

Scorpion One

GCV Chikuma

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[rp]As I manoeuvred the gurney round the various obtacles lying in the corridors- deactivated drones, pieces of bulkhead, corpses and unconscious goons my general revulsion at the whole scenario grew. It reached a peak at a particularly gruesome section of corridor, where the walls and floor were caked with blood that had only been there long enough to just start to congeal, leaving the surfaces slimy and slippery. Even with my military doctorÔÇÖs training and my experience, I really had to fight the waves of nausea and focus on the job at hand.

ÔÇ£Well, here we are, Sergeant. Your new home for a while.ÔÇØ

I looked around to see what was left of the equipment in Medibay. Not having had a running gun battle there ensured that the vast majority of the equipment was intact, but there were only two medical droids left- one who had only been damaged rather than destroyed (like all the others) carrying out the prep-for-surgery command, and one who had been unable to leave the medibay due to having a piece of shrapnel embedded in its drive mechanism. Martin also spotted the black clad goon he had saved from the haywire drones, and Ailsa Strang, still recovering from a combination of infections and injuries. She wasnÔÇÖt well at all, and under normal circumstances he would never allow her back to duty in the state she was in, but in these circumstances we will need all the help we can get. I got Sergeant Diamond into a stabilisation cubicle and activated it. I then went over to my rescued goon,

ÔÇ£Nice to see you made it here, son! You doing alright?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Not to bad, doc, but I think my fighting days are over.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Maybe, maybe not. A good cloning bay will sort you out.ÔÇØ

He looked down at the stump where his hand should have been.

ÔÇ£I wish IÔÇÖd never come on this mission.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£At least youÔÇÖre learning that not every order is a good one.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Yeah.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Wait here a bit. IÔÇÖve got to sort something out.ÔÇØ

I went over to the comms panel.

ÔÇ£Neena, I guess youÔÇÖre in the mood for some good news.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£ArenÔÇÖt I always?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Well, IÔÇÖve got Diamond stabilised, and I might be able to get Ailsa up and able to help you if you want. She wonÔÇÖt be fully capable, but better thanÔǪÔÇØ At that moment I though I heard a sound at the other end of the medibay. I looked up, but couldnÔÇÖt see anything. ÔÇÿJust getting paranoid,ÔÇÖ I thought, ÔÇÿbut then again, better safe than sorry.ÔÇÖ

I drew my sidearm with my left hand and started to walk towards where I thought the sound came from.

ÔÇ£WhoÔÇÖs there?ÔÇØ I called out. [/rp]

Maybe I am paranoid.

------------------

Commander Ben Zwycky

GCV Svoboda ISS07

Adjutant to the Fleet Commander

In System Support (ISS) Fleet

http://www.watson-jones.swinternet.co.uk/Svoboda

"Nakonec pravda vitezi" (in the end the truth wins)

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Hmm... shot without a chance to defend myself. Can't complain. I haven't exactly been contributing lately. Any chance of changing that now? smile.gif

------------------

Commander David Foss, GCV Deterrence

[This message has been edited by David Foss (edited 01-08-2000).]

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Take Gambit, he's manning TacOps and weapons control. Since it's all on manual, he's having to use his fighter pilot skills to manually target and track the incoming craft.

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[RP] On

McKendrick checked his sensor readings. There were energy signatures all over the place but he was only interested in one. There it was, a faint tachyon emission. Dead ahead and he was gaining slowly. The engines whined as he put the shuttle at full throttle. "Banish, we should intercept in three minutes."

"Understood"

"Unidentified shuttle, this is IC1 of the GCV Vagabond, you are proceeding towards a secure engagement area. You are ordered to halt and return to your ship. I repeat, you are entering a secure area, you are ordered to go back."

McKendrick swore, this was all he needed now. A check of tacops showed two fighters shadowing himself and two had taken up a position behind Banish. "Sorry guys, I've lost a probe and I have to go find it. No can do. I promise I won't mess up your playpen though."

"Unidentified shuttle, you are entering a secure engagement area. You are ordered back. You are not to proceed any farther. We have orders to destroy you if you do not comply."

McKendrick flipped to the private channel," Banish get ready, this is going to get messy," he said as he carefully lined the shuttle up. The power meter was pegged. McKendrick transferred more power to the tractor beam as he got ready.

"Guys, I got to find that probe. It has sensitive data and we need to retrieve it."

"Unidentified shuttle, we do not show a probe in the region. Stand down now or we will be forced to fire."

"Well if it showed it wouldn't be lost now would it?" said Mckendrick. He was finally lined up. Now or never. McKendrick hit the tractor beam and caught one of the IC's. He hit the afterburners and pulled away from the group. The IC was held fast. McKendrick applied more power to the tractor beam until the IC started spitting sparks in the CVD image. Just to be sure he sent a carrier wave along the tractor beam that would be sure to fry the computer. With luck the escape pod would still work. He didn't have time to check though as he put the shields back up.

In the moment of confusion Banish had broken free as well but was being pursued by the other two IC's. Things were not going well for him. Once more McKendrick applied the afterburners and put himself between Banish and the attcking IC's. He threw power at the shields to absord the laser fire. Banish's IC recovered quickly and at a command from him they broke in opposite directions. The third IC had come around and was heading straight towards him.

With the shields throbbing from the extra power McKendrick flew straight towards the IC. As it finally realized what was about to occur it tried to veer off but it was too late. McKendrick mirrored his evasive move and gave him a glancing blow. The IC went spinning off course. McKendrick brought the shuttle around in a u-turn that made it groan in protest. The IC was lighter and more maneuverable but the shuttle had an extra power supply and more mass. McKendrick never gave it a chance to recover from it's spin. Again he flew the shuttle into the lighter craft and once more to finish it. The craft was badly mangled over the much of it's surface. He was sure the shuttle didn't look much better at the point of impact but it was still servicable.

Banish was still dancing a merry dance with his two friends as he checked sensors. The probe had gained a respectable lead. Signalling Banish that he was once more on his way after the probe McKendrick again targeted the probe and began chasing it again.

[RP] Off

There you go. Part two. I figured Ben/Banish would want a crack at his friends. Hope you like it Blades. One more to go.

McKendrick

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[Narrative On]

Impact T ÔÇô 23 minutes

Mallone had realised two important things since his encounter with Sgt. Diamond. The first was that he had under estimated the grunts fighting ability, and the second was that he was dieing.

Fortunately for Mallone, his impending death had been interupted by the timely intervention of his previous victim, Neena Polovoski. The innacurate blast from her plasma rifle had seperated both the struggling me moments before Diamond would have plunged the knife further into his already desestated neck. The interuption had given him time to quietly (If ungracefully) slip away and enter an accessway.

After some painful crawling, he found himself at a familiar junction, and kicked his way into the medbay.

Although his medical skills were little more than basic medic expertise, he knew enough to plunge a variety of pain killing drugs into his shattered frame and take the edge off the agony. He was just in the process of bandaging up his severe wound when the comotion of arriving patients disturbed him.

Unarmed, and not entirely combat worthy, he decided to take refuge behind one of the robotic surgery assistants in the back of the bay and sit this particular encounter out. That was, until the timely arrival of the doctor.

Mallone sat there for several minutes as the doctor worked on the badly wounded Sgt. Diamond. It both ammused and troubled him that his opponant had survived the savage fighting. Ammused at how stubourn the old soldier was for not giving into the darkness and surrendering to the infinately less painful death and troubled by the fact that while alive, he still represented a threat to him, and the mission.

Mallone decided he still needed to be taken out. But first, there was the doctor, not to mention the traitor and the navigator. The rest of the crew could wait.

It was during the doctors brief communication with Neena on the liberated bridge that Mallone put his plan into action. Quietly, he slipped an arm out and reached over and activated the saw arm of the surgery assistant. Although not loud, the activation noise alerted the doctor to the fact that something was entirely right.

Mallone hadnt counted on this, nor the fact that the doctor was armed, and approaching him slowley from the far side of the medbay.

Pulling a single shell from his trouser pocket, Mallone held it tightly between his thumb and forefinger and prepared to flick it into a medical cabinet a few feet to the left of him. He waited until the doctor approached even closer, and then when within striking distance, tossed the round.

The moment it connected it sent out a shrill twang, and had the inexperienced doctor swirling to cover the area of the sound with his pistol. At that same moment, Mallone sprang to his feet and pushed the surgery assistants robotic arm towards the doctor.

The doctor turned the moment the new sound startled him, and rbought the weapon round just in time to see the scalpel end of the arm plunge deep into his forearm and drag him back.

The gun fell from his hand and scattered out of sight under a surgical table. Mallone stumbled from behind the assistant and kicked out at the doctor, sending him reeling back further and off the impailing arm.

ÔÇ£No!ÔÇØ shouted the wounded marine from his own surgicle table. ÔÇ£Colonel please!ÔÇØ

Mallone looked up at his subordinate, and briefly forgot about finishing off the doctor. Instead, he tore the scalper piece off the arm and threw it with all his might at his turncoat marine.

The blade plunged into the surprised marines left eyesocket, and he fell backwards without making so much as a gurgle.

Grinning, Mallone turned back to finish what he had started with the doctor, only to be met by the boot of the man kicking him hard in the face.

Mallone fell backwards, felt knew pain as he gashed himself on the broken asistants arm. He pushed himself up and looked into the fearful eyes of the doctor.

It was time to finish this, once and for all.

[Narrative Off]

Impact T ÔÇô 18 minutes

------------------

F.C KARL 'BLADES' SAVAGE

ORION FLEET

TSUNAMI BATTLE GROUP

GCV - TSUNAMI Ôäó

www.orion-hq.fsnet.co.uk

'For Queen and country'

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Ouch.

There's worse to come.

[rp] Before the doc could raise his lacerated arm to defend himself, Mallone had charged into him, slamming him hard into a nearby wall before grabbing that arm at the point where the blade had gone in and wrenching it painfully behind the doc's back.

"You having fun, yet?!" He shouted into the doc's ear from an inch away.

He didn't wait for an answer before bringing his free hand precisely down on the doc's left collarbone, snapping it like a twig. He then wrenched his arm well above where it should have been able to go, using the jagged edge of bone to rip through the muscle and soft tissue around the doc's shoulder, producing a satisfying scream of agony. He wasn't going to give him the dignity of a quick and painless death.

Wrenching the docs arm round again to the front, producing more screams, he let go of his arm and brought a big heavy boot into his chest, catapulting the doc across the room, and breaking a few ribs in the process. The doc landed painfully on his back a few metres from Mallone, but still facing him.

"I had no choice," he said weakly as he brought up his right arm as if to fend off Mallone's next attack.

Maybe it was the loss of blood, maybe the distraction of fighting the pain from his mortal wounds, or maybe just clouds of rage that prevented Mallone from noticing that the doc had been carrying a second weapon. A weapon that he had carried the whole time he had been on the ship, that had become just part of his uniform. A weapon that most people rejected as being weak and ineffective.

A wristlaser.

As Mallone jogged over to where the doc lay, he percieved the sudden squeezing of the doc's right fist, which drew his attention to the small barrel lined up at him. It was too late to prevent the laser burst slamming into his throat, shredding his windpipe and severing both major blood vessels.

His eyes widened as he fell to his knees, both hands going to his neck and his mouth opening, vainly attempting to gasp for air.

Martin had never been very good at hand to hand combat, in fact he had almost failed to be promoted because of this, but what had saved him then and now had been his proficiency with a wrist laser. He had had his wristlaser modified many years ago to have a second trigger mechanism on short wires that he could hold in his right hand, so that he could fire it with one hand instead of having to reach across with his left. It had saved his life once before, and did so again today.

"I don't enjoy this," he said as he quickly lined up a second shot and squeezed, aiming into Mallone's open mouth, causing a red eruption from the back of his head. Instant.

As the realisation dawned on him, so did the shock of his injuries. He painfully rose as quickly as he could, and frantically searched for some stimulant to stave off his impending unconciousness. He managed to grab a hypospray and inject himself as his vision started to blur and darken. His eyesight and balance quickly recovered, but unfortunately so did his ability to feel the agonising pain in his shoulder, what the state of shock is there to prevent. His next priority was to find some local block to enable him to think about something other than his pain. Upon finding it, and injecting himself his mind started to clear. He looked up at his rescued goon. He was dead. There was no doubt about that. He looked down at Mallone. He was dead- a murderer to the last. There was only Ailsa left in any sort of healthy condition apart from one medical droid.

As Martin walked over to his healthiest patient, he felt the piece of bone scraping against his shoulder blade. A sickening feeling, if not actually painful. He turned to the one remaining droid

"Wake her up, she's needed upstairs, then see to my shoulder."

'The commlink! Neena must be worried.' He walked over to the terminal. [/rp]

Hope that was gory enough for your liking, there Blades. smile.gif I won't be posting very regularly for the next couple of weeks- exams- but I might make the odd appearance, so don't kill me off yet, unless you really want to smile.gif

TTFN

------------------

Commander Ben Zwycky

GCV Svoboda ISS07

Adjutant to the Fleet Commander

In System Support (ISS) Fleet

http://www.watson-jones.swinternet.co.uk/Svoboda

"Nakonec pravda vitezi" (in the end the truth wins)

[This message has been edited by Ben Zwycky (edited 01-10-2000).]

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[Narrative On]

Impact T ÔÇô 16 minutes

ÔÇ£Fleet Commander Stiles!ÔÇØ said the TacOps commander from the bridge of the GCV Universe.

ÔÇ£Yes?ÔÇØ responded the Orion Fleets renegade Commander.

ÔÇ£Sir, our Interceptors have been engaged by the Chikumas support vessels.ÔÇØ

Stiles shook his head in disbelief. ÔÇ£I donÔÇÖt understand it. Colonel Mallone and his people couldnÔÇÖt have lost control of the ship.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Either that or heÔÇÖs had a radical change of heart, sir.ÔÇØ Said the TacOps commander.

Stiles scoffed at him. ÔÇ£Mallone have a change of heart? I think not. Obviously some of Stones people have gotten the better of him, however unlikely that may sound.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Orders, sir?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Have the interceptors from the Torino break from their CAP and engage the Chikuma IC and shuttle. Order the Vagabond to locate the Chikuma and destroy her. And have the Torino herself standby to break from the asault.ÔÇØ

The TacOps commander looked at Stiles. ÔÇ£Sir?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Just in case, Kyle. Just in case ..ÔÇØ

Impact T ÔÇô 14 minutes

[Narrative Off]

------------------

F.C KARL 'BLADES' SAVAGE

ORION FLEET

TSUNAMI BATTLE GROUP

GCV - TSUNAMI Ôäó

www.orion-hq.fsnet.co.uk

'For Queen and country'

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(RP on)

Impact T ÔÇô 14 minutes

Nine minutes since the insane order to go to battlestations.

The Chikuma was bearing down on the renegade fleet like a bat out of hell. Granted, this bat only had half a wing, a barely functional ear, and had somehow lost all but one tooth. To put it simply, we could barely fly, she was about as responsive as a man trapped in ice, and TacOps was scratchy at best. I didn't even want to think about the weapons.

But I had to. I was the one manning the station. Just my luck.

I never touched capital ships aside from crew quarters or when landing the IC. It was for a very good reason. IC's were SIMPLE. This thing was crazy! The lieutenant didn't know it, but I had been mumbling my way through the operation of the TacOps system for a full two minutes before remembering how the system worked. Best bluff of my life. The real miracle of it all was... I was right.

While I was thinking about this seemingly simple idea, something caught my eye. A sudden and large change in the TacOps display.

"Neen... Er... Sir! We have a problem. Interceptors from the enemy fleet are breaking off their attack and heading for the support craft! Also, one of the BC's are heading in this direction. I don't think they can see us, but they are definitely looking."

(RP off)

Hmm... hope I summarized it right. Any suggestions or problems?

------------------

Commander David Foss, GCV Deterrence

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[RP] On

Without the IC's attacking McKendrick had a few minutes to himself. Minutes to plan. Minutes to think. Minutes he had rather not had. They reminded him of the problems he was to face. He rechecked his sensor readings. The probe was still on course. The tachyon signature had increased slightly. Apparently the probe had taken some damage before being launched. Not enough yet to nullify the cloak but enough to get a better reading. He went down into the cargo bay and checked the auxillary power sources. The shuttle's reactor was still providing plenty of power and the ATV reactor was operating at peak capacity. The batteries had not been touched since installation and all were showing a full charge.

He sealed the bay door and climbed back in the cockpit, checking the tracking systems and the tractor beam. A1 condition. It would be a simple matter to snag the probe with the tractor beam and pull it to a safe distance. At least he hoped that. Probes were fast due to their relatively light nature but this one had a missile on it's back and it had been slowed considerably. Plenty of leeway. He hoped.

Before those thoughts could drag him down into despair he felt and heard the dull thud against the shields that indicated laser fire. Finally settling into his chair he quickly checked Tacops. Two more fighters had broken off the engagement and were attacking him. McKendrick acted without thinking. Shortly after two more IC's were destroyed.

Had anyone been watching they would have seen the IC's line up side by side and begin firing at McKendrick's shuttle. They would have seen the shuttle begin a victory roll of sorts. A roll with just enough sideways thrust to make it corkscrew through space. They also would have noticed that the IC's had trouble firing upon the shuttle. They would have seen the IC's apply more thrust and bring themselves closer to the shuttle to get a better bead. The last thing they would have seen was a tactor beam lancing out from the shuttle, grabbing an IC, and as the IC was carried around the corkscrew they would have seen it slam into the other IC with the force of a hammer, exploding both.

On the bridge of the GCV Universe the tacops commander reported to Fleet Commander Stiles, "Sir, the two IC's that engaged the Chikuma's shuttle are gone."

Fleet Commander Stiles visibly blanched. Whether from anger or fear the Tacops commander could not tell but it did not look pleasant. Beginning very quietly and rising to a shriek, the white being replaced by the red of fury he said, "Could you please tell me how a shuttle could destroy two, count them two fully equipped interceptors?"

Aboard the shuttle and with the interceptors gone (he was not quite sure how), McKendrick once more plotted a course towards the probe. Again he had lost some time. Still enough though.

Michael McKendrick

F.E. #13

Charter Member

1st Offensive Shuttle Squadron

[RP] Off

Hehe, the timing couldn't have been better David. Mine post slides right in. Cool. Blades you'll have to time stamp it for me. wink.gif

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[Narrative On]

Impact T ÔÇô 14 minutes

ÔÇ£Medbay to bridge.ÔÇØ Came the voice of the troubled Chief Medical Officer.

ÔÇ£Doc, whats wrong?ÔÇØ replied Neena, instantly.

ÔÇ£Just had a run in with our old friend, Mallone.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Mallone?!?ÔÇØ exclaimed the Chikumas commander. ÔÇ£HeÔÇÖs alive?ÔÇØ

A brief pause from medbay.

ÔÇ£Doc?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Sorry, IÔÇÖm still here. Not feelin too good.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£What happened?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Mallone obviously didnÔÇÖt do the honourable thing and expire quietly somwhere else aboard ship. He got into sickbay and ambushed me.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Are you and the others alright? What happened?ÔÇØ

Another pause. ÔÇ£The marine myself and Jayce rescued is dead. Mallone put him down. The Seargent, Ailsa and myself are ok, although I donÔÇÖt think IÔÇÖm going to be performing any kind of surgery for a good while.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Wheres Mallone?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Dead.ÔÇØ Said the CMO. ÔÇ£I killed him. I actually killed him.ÔÇØ

The doctor sounded remorseful. Although a military doctor, he still took the age old hypocratic oath that demanded that he do no harm. In this instance, he had violated that oath, and taken a life.

ÔÇ£You did your duty.ÔÇØ Said Neena. ÔÇ£You defended your ship and crew.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£I know.ÔÇØ Said the doctor. Still doesnÔÇÖt make it right.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Commander!ÔÇØ shouted Gambit from the TacOps console. ÔÇ£Sir, I think we have been detected!ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£What? How?ÔÇØ

Jensen took the initive and offered an explanation. ÔÇ£Sir, I think all the internal damage on board the Chikuma is showing up through our cloak. Whats more, we have been under cloak for a prolonged period of time. WeÔÇÖre bleeding radiation all over the place, and without a cleanup crew hosing down the decks, weÔÇÖre starting to glow.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£SheÔÇÖs right.ÔÇØ Offered the CMO from medbay. ÔÇ£I just ran a check. WeÔÇÖre all red lining on radiation exposure. If you donÔÇÖt disengage that cloak, weÔÇÖre all going to get a bad case of sunburn within the hour.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Hell.ÔÇØ Said Neena. ÔÇ£Whats the position of the Vagabond?ÔÇØ

Gambit quickly pulled up the data. ÔÇ£Uh, if IÔÇÖm reading this right, sheÔÇÖs heading roughly in our direction. They probably cant localise the radiation surge, but they got a general idea of where we are.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Whats the position of IC1 and the Shuttle?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Sir, IC1 is engaging two fighters from the renegade fleet. Four more are moving in to intercept. That shuttle pilot of yours is pancaking enemy ICÔÇÖs like itÔÇÖs a friggin swat fest. Incredible.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Whats the rest of the fleet doing?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£They are still engaging the station and itÔÇÖs defenders. Another BattleCruiser, I think itÔÇÖs the Torino, is breaking from the assault and moving to support the Vagabond.ÔÇØ

Neena frowned. This was not good.

ÔÇ£Position of the Wraith task force?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Sir, the graff Spee and itÔÇÖs escorts are still well out of intercept range.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Not what I wanted to hear Gambit.ÔÇØ

Neena paused for a moment to think. Valuable seconds ticked by.

ÔÇ£Neena?ÔÇØ said Jensen. ÔÇ£Sir, the Vagabond is closing.ÔÇØ

Neena took a deep breath. It was now or never.

ÔÇ£Put us on course to intercept the Vagabond, maximum burn.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Aye commander!ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Gambit, I hope youÔÇÖre figured out how to fire our weapons.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Ah, right on it commander. ShouldnÔÇÖt be that much more trouble than pulling a trigger.ÔÇØ

Jensen turned in her seat and glared at him. ÔÇ£You have got to be joking.ÔÇØ

Gambit beamed an uncharacteristic smile at her. ÔÇ£If all else fails, IÔÇÖll just mash the console with my big hands.ÔÇØ

Jensen turned away, and shook her head. ÔÇ£Jarhead.ÔÇØ

Impact T ÔÇô 11 minutes

Dancer, the lead pilot of the GCV Torino broke formation and laced the Chikuma shuttle with a barage of laser fire. Satisfied with his initial pass, he broke hard left and allowed his wingman to repeat the maneuver.

According to his tactical scanner, the shuttles shields had been augmented with a secondary power sorce, and although improving the recharge time and integrity of the craft, it also made it that more easy to disrupt itÔÇÖs power systems and cripple the shuttle with one well aimed shot. Had he or his wingman had a spare missile between them, the job would have been a lot simpler. Instead, he had to rely on the precision of his dogfighting skills to knock out the shuttle.

So far, this wasnÔÇÖt successful.

ÔÇ£Dancer to Merryman, you got any ordinance left?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Negative Dancer, I loosed off the last one before breaking from the primary target.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Hell.ÔÇØ Said Dancer. ÔÇ£What about your buddy?ÔÇØ

Static. ÔÇ£Merryman?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Lead! Merryman just winked off my scope.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£What? What happened?ÔÇØ

Dancer pulled his IC hard to port and began a spiraling maneuver that would bring him back onto IP with the shuttle. All at once, he realised what had happened to Merryman, and what was about to happen to his wingman.

ÔÇ£Jesus! Hamlet! Break left! Break left dammit!ÔÇØ

Too late.

Dancer watched as the tractored Interceptor that Merryman was piloting was dragged into the strafe path of Hamlets interceptor. In an instant, the two Interceptors collided and exploded into a ball of flame.

Dancer broke hard to the right to avoid the burning debris and only just avaoided a large chunk of an interceptors wing that spun manically out towards him.

ÔÇ£Son of a bitch!ÔÇØ screamed Dancers wingman over the comms. ÔÇ£Did you see that Dancer? Did you see what that ******* did?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£I saw it, Bruce. Reform on my wing, weÔÇÖre going for another run and this time weÔÇÖre staying out of his tractor range. That ******* is good.ÔÇØ

Impact T ÔÇô 10 minutes

ÔÇ£Status!ÔÇØ barked Neena from the bridge.

ÔÇ£Sir! Shields at 89%, weapons hot! Intruder is on final approach.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Jensen, bring us about to port, 45 degrees.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Aye sir, executing now.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Gambit, begin targeting their engines with the main gun and fore turret.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Will do.ÔÇØ Said Gambit.

ÔÇ£Target at 5.7km and closing. Coming about to new course.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Slow us to one third. Fire up the maneuver jets and bring us about onto a parralel course with the target.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Understood.ÔÇØ Said Jensen. ÔÇ£Coming about.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Sir!ÔÇØ said Gambit. ÔÇ£Target is at 3.3 km to starboard.ÔÇØ

Neena tugged at her tunic. She was about to lead her ship into battlefor the first time. She prayed that she had half the skill and inginuity of the previous commander. Stone may have been misguided, but he was an excellent Commander.

ÔÇ£Target overtaking!ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Jensen, bring us around dammit!ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Doing my best commander. The ships not as responsive as I remember her!ÔÇØ

An alarm started bleeping wildly on the bridge. Gambit quickly scanned over the TacOps terminal to discover what the problem was.

ÔÇ£Sir! Threat warning! They got a lock on us.ÔÇØ

Just then, the Chikuma began to shake under the impact of turret fire.

ÔÇ£Jensen! I need a firing solution!ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£In position in 6 ..ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Incomming missile!ÔÇØ shouted Gambit.

ÔÇ£EMD!ÔÇØ barked Neena.

ÔÇ£5 ..ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£EMD active.ÔÇØ Said Gambit. ÔÇ£Missile still on course. Impact in 8 seconds.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£3 ..ÔÇØ

Descision time. Execute an emergency maneuver to avoid the incomming missile, or stay on target and fire into the engines of the Vagabond.

ÔÇ£1 ..ÔÇØ

Fight or evade. Fight or evade.

ÔÇ£Impact in 4 seconds!ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£We have a firing solution!ÔÇØ

Fight.

ÔÇ£Open FIRE!ÔÇØ

Impact T ÔÇô 9 minutes

[Narrative Off]

David, the ball is in your court. Whatever you do, this battle shouldnÔÇÖt last more than three minutes. If it does, it would be bad. wink.gif

------------------

F.C KARL 'BLADES' SAVAGE

ORION FLEET

TSUNAMI BATTLE GROUP

GCV - TSUNAMI Ôäó

www.orion-hq.fsnet.co.uk

'For Queen and country'

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Ok, Foss is MIA again. Probably worried that heÔÇÖs gonna get assigned to command the new ORION Battle Group this week. wink.gifNot to worry, I can cover it. Heres the battle. Enjoy!

[Narrative On]

Impact T ÔÇô 8 minutes

At almost the same instant, the Chikuma fired itÔÇÖs main gun at close range into the aft section of the GCV Vagabond as the Vagabonds initial missile strike exploded into the fore shields of the Chikuma.

The Chikuma bridge crew rocked from the sudden impact, but held their positions.

ÔÇ£Damage report!ÔÇØ screamed Neena from the command chair.

ÔÇ£Shields down to 73%, sir!ÔÇØ replied Gambit from the TacOps terminal.

ÔÇ£Commander!ÔÇØ shouted Jensen. ÔÇ£Incoming turret fire from the Vagabond!ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Evasive!ÔÇØ

The Chikuma began rocking from the impact of the Vagabonds turret fire. Although the damage inflicted was significantly less that that from the ships main gun, the refire rate was impressive.

ÔÇ£Shields down to 68% commander!ÔÇØ shouted Gambit.

ÔÇ£Dammit,ÔÇØ started Neena. ÔÇ£It feels like weÔÇÖre being pecked to death. Wheres my main gun Gambit?ÔÇØ

Main gun recharge in 4  3  2  1!

ÔÇ£Return fire!ÔÇØ shouted Neena as a lucky hit from the Vagabonds turrets breached the damaged shields and ploughed into the bridge armour. Sparks flew and the navigation console next to Jensen exploded, sending shrapnel across the whole of the bridge.

Again, the Chikuma fired into the aft of the Vagabond, itÔÇÖs deadly energy burst smashing through the already weakened shields and devestating the engine of the enemy ship.

Still, the Vagabond continued to fire.

ÔÇ£Gambit, where the hell are my turrets?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Working on it!ÔÇØ shouted the former interceptor pilot. ÔÇ£IÔÇÖm having difficulty firelinking them.ÔÇØ

Neena pushed herself from the command chair and almost lost her footing as another barrage of turret fire impacted on the Chikumas strained shields.

ÔÇ£Vagabond coming about!ÔÇØ shouted Jensen over the uproar. ÔÇ£They are trying to bring their main gun and missiles to bear on us!ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Stay with her, Jensen!ÔÇØ said Neena, steadying herself at the TacOps terminal briefly before brushing Gambit aside.

ÔÇ£Trying to sir, but our maneuver jets are wasted. I can only keep us out of their fire for a few more seconds!ÔÇØ

Neena ignored the helmsman, and work furiously at the TacOps terminal to fire link the turrets. Although the turrets normally operated under automatic, it was possible in situations where manual fire was enabled to crosslink the three weapons systems to fire as one, thus significantly improving the damage potential of the system.

Main gun recharge in 3  2  1! reported Gambit.

ÔÇ£Fire again!ÔÇØ said Neena as she finished working on the crosslinked turrets.

Gambit again fire the main gun towards the Vagabond, and was discouraged when the blast just barley clipped the enemy ship.

ÔÇ£Shit!ÔÇØ exclaimed Gambit. ÔÇ£SheÔÇÖs moving too quickly for us.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Decouple the IOD.ÔÇØ Said Neena, stepping back from the TacOps terminal and over to Jensen.

ÔÇ£Aye sir, decoupling the main gun. Recharge in 20 seconds.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Turrets are crosslinked, Gambit. Begin pecking.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Yes sir!ÔÇØ said Gambit who began manually targeting the crosslinked turrets before lancing out at the enemy ship with their combined might.

Over at the heml console, Jensen fought with the ships damaged maneuver systems to try and keep the enemy ships fore section out of firing range.

ÔÇ£IÔÇÖm losing it sir.ÔÇØ Said Jensen.

ÔÇ£I donÔÇÖt want to hear that.ÔÇØ Said neena. ÔÇ£You have got to keep us out of their weapons fire arc.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£IÔÇÖm sorry,ÔÇØ began Jensen,ÔÇØbut this dance of death is wrecking whats left of our propulsion systems.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Incomming!ÔÇØ shouted Gambit at TacOps.

The Chikuma rumbled as the Vagabonds decoupled IOD fire reached out across space and tried to pummel the Chikuma.

ÔÇ£Glancing blow, sir!ÔÇØ reported Gambit. ÔÇ£But it took our shileds down to 47%.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Hows our refire?ÔÇØ said Neena.

ÔÇ£IOD refire in 7 seconds. Vagabond refire in approx ten seconds.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Dammit!ÔÇØ shouted Neena.

This was not good. Not only was the Vagabond better shielded, better armoured and significantly less damaged than the Chikuma, but her reactor output enabled the main gun to refire at twice the rate of her ship. Not only that, but with the added bonus of having working maneuver jets on the Vagabond, their main weapon and missile systems would be brought to bear on her next to helpless ship in seconds.

ÔÇ£Status of the Vagabond!ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Shields down to 50%! Armour holding. There coming about.ÔÇØ

Screw this, thought Neena. She had wanted to cripple the Vagabond, not destroy her. But now it looked like she had no choice. She had to shoot to kill or they would all die.

ÔÇ£Concentrate all fire on the bridge!ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Aye sir!ÔÇØ said Gambit. ÔÇ£Firing!ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Jensen, emergency afterburners, aft!ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Sir, that will-ÔÇ£

ÔÇ£Just DO IT!ÔÇØ screamed the Leutenant commander.

As Jensen executed the strained maneuver, Gambit fired at close range into the Vagabonds fore section, aiming as best he could with the big gun for the bridge.

As the Chikuma angrily rumbled backwards away from the enemy ship, the crosslinked turret fire accurately pecked away at the fore shields and began to breach them.

Incomming IOD fire from the Vagabond smashed into the Chikuma, and the bridge seemed to explode with debris and showering sparks. Neena and Jensen were thrown clear of their positions and landed painfully on the debris covered floor. Only Gambit held his position, having braced himself well at the TacOps terminal.

Fire supression systemsicked in on the Chikumas bridge, and the smoke and various fires began to dissipate.

ÔÇ£Sir, shields have collapsed!ÔÇØ shouted Gambit, not knowing if his words were being heard by any of the remaining bridge occupants. ÔÇ£Hull integrity down to 35%! We cannot withstand another direct strike! Enemy IOD recharge in 6 seconds!ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Probes.ÔÇØ Said Neena, groggily from the deck.

ÔÇ£Sir?ÔÇØ asked Gambit.

ÔÇ£Launch probes.ÔÇØ

At the exact moment the VagabondÔÇÖs main weapon cycled to fire again, Gambit understood exactly what Neena was saying.

Quickly, he accessed the probe launch menu from the terminal and launched the Chikumas remaining probes and aimed them towards the Vagabond.

Less than three seconds later, the Vagabonds IOD discharge ploughed into the probes and utterly destroyed them. The remaining energy from the IOD slammed into the Chikuma, and blew a massive chunk out of the port wing side.

The Chikuma, however, held together.

ÔÇ£Refire in 6 seconds!ÔÇØ shouted Gambit over the turmoil.

Neena pushed herlsef to her feet and braced herself next to Gambit. Blood freely poured from a severe head wound and her left arm was clearly shattered from the bad fall.

ÔÇ£Target the bridge.ÔÇØ Quietly said Neena.

ÔÇ£Aye sir, bridge targeted. Refire in 2 .. 1 ..ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£End this.ÔÇØ

The Chikuma fired itÔÇÖs main gun towards the GCV Vagabond and all on the bridge tracked itÔÇÖs progress on the viewscreen. The two seconds that it took for the Chikumas blast to intercept the Vagabond, time seemed to stand nearly still.

Neena watched in slow motion as the two graceful balls of energy rolled like burning charriots through space to smother the fore section of the Vagabond.

In an instant, the entire fore section of the enemy ship was engulfed in a myrid of colorful explosions. The armour plating that protected the bridge flew apart from the impact, and the superstructure beneath it seemed to crumple inwards and allow the beautiful, yet deadly energy to embrace itÔÇÖs innards.

Just then, the fore section seperated sideways from the rest of the ship, as a concussion wave blew outwards and traveled down the length of the ship, blowing out each and every section along itÔÇÖs length and exposing it to space.

What followed that was a massive explosion, that started at the rear of the ship and traveled in the opposite direction of the concussion wave and up the length of the ship.

It was a beautiful, if shocking sight. A massive BattleCruiser, commanded by the best humanity had to offer, dieing a graceful, if dishonourable death.

Once the explosion had dissipated, Neena surrendered herself to the pain and shock, and fell uncomfortably back to the deck and embraced unconsciousness.

Impact T ÔÇô 4 minutes

[Narrative Off]

------------------

F.C KARL 'BLADES' SAVAGE

ORION FLEET

TSUNAMI BATTLE GROUP

GCV - TSUNAMI Ôäó

www.orion-hq.fsnet.co.uk

'For Queen and country'

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Impact T ÔÇô 6 minutes

[Narrative On]

ÔÇ£Status of the station?ÔÇØ asked Fleet Commander Stiles, bracing himself slightly as a volley of turret fire from the stricken station brushed against his ships enhanced shield systems.

ÔÇ£Hull integrity down to 30%, sir. They wont hold out much longer.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£And the defenders?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£The last wing of fighters just burned sir. We have them.ÔÇØ

Stiles smiled. ÔÇ£Right on schedule, Kyle, right on schedule.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Aye sir. It was a masterpiece of planning.ÔÇØ

Stiles grinned at his exec. ÔÇ£You gunning for a promotion, Kyle?ÔÇØ

The TacOps officer chuckled. ÔÇ£Well, the though had crossed my mind, sir.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£After this days work Kyle, I think that may be an option.ÔÇØ

Kyle turned back to his console. ÔÇ£Always a pleasure, sir.ÔÇØ

Something bleeped at his console and caught his attention. He frowned.

ÔÇ£Something wrong?ÔÇØ asked Stiles.

ÔÇ£I donÔÇÖt believe it.ÔÇØ He replied. ÔÇ£Sir, the Vagabond has just been destroyed.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£What? ThatÔÇÖs impossible.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Confirmed sir! The Chikuma has downed the Vagabond.ÔÇØ

Stiles seated himself back in the command chair and rubbed his hands over his weary eyes. ÔÇ£You have to admit, that woman has some huge great balls. We should have recruited her too.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Sir, I have the Torino standing by. They are requesting instructions.ÔÇØ

Stiles sighed. ÔÇ£Whats the condition of the Chikum?ÔÇØ

Kyle called up the requested information. ÔÇ£Sir, sheÔÇÖs in a bad way. Shields are almost completely blown, and her hull integrity is down to 27%. IÔÇÖm reading her weapons systems as being offline and her cloak is fried. Maueuver jets are red lining and main propulsion is gone. SheÔÇÖs dead in space.ÔÇØ

For a brief moment, Stiles considered leaving the Chikuma as she was, crippled and dead in space. Then he considered the fact that while alive, the crew of that ships could still possibly hurt him, and any survivors could divulge sensitive information regarding his plans to command. Reluctantly, he decided that they had to be destroyed.

ÔÇ£Order the Torino to engage the Chikuma. No survivors. Escape shuttles are to be destroyed.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Understood sir. Torino acknowledges orders. Intercept in three minutes.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Status of the Chikuma IC and shuttle?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£The Interceptor is badly dammaged, but still resisting. The shuttle is burning like a bat out of hell towards the planet. We have two interceptors in pursuit.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£I still donÔÇÖt understand what that pilot believes he can accomplish. HeÔÇÖs got no ordinance to stop the probe, and he wont get planet bound in time to warn the population.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Yes sir. ItÔÇÖs a mystery, sir.ÔÇØ

Stiles nodded, and shifted his attention to the main viewscreen. The turret fire from the starstation had abated.

ÔÇ£Sir, their defence grid is offline. Am reading an SOS.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Finally.ÔÇØ Said Stiles, pushing himself to his feet. ÔÇ£Have the raiding party beam over and secure the target. Standby to dock with the station and receive our prize. Have the rest of the fleet assume a defensive position in front of the station and prepare to engage the Wraith task force.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Aye sir.ÔÇØ Said both the helmsman and Tactical officers.

Stiles allowed himself another smile. The day had been won. Victory was his.

Impact T ÔÇô 3 minutes

[Narrative Off]

------------------

F.C KARL 'BLADES' SAVAGE

ORION FLEET

TSUNAMI BATTLE GROUP

GCV - TSUNAMI Ôäó

www.orion-hq.fsnet.co.uk

'For Queen and country'

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Impact T-6 minutes 30 seconds

McKendrick checked his CVD to see the last vestiges of the "enemy" fighters TTD wink out. He then felt again the dull thud indicating laser fire. Checking Tacops he saw that another two fighters had come to intercept him. He must have raised some eyebrows with his last stunt he thought, finally remembering. Six raiders with varying craft and four interceptors. These things aren't all that bad after all. If they only had some weapons they whould be quite formidable. Right up there with the super fighters. I'll have to put that into Galcom when I get back.

More fire peppered his shutle and broke his reverie. Again he lashed out with the tractor beam only to find nothing. Quickly raising shields again he checked Tacops and saw that the interceptors had veered away. They were staying out of tractor range. That's one small blessing, he thought. At least I'm harder to hit from this distance. Several more thuds gave lie to that thought. Either that or these guys were extremely good.

"Well let's just see how you like playing chicken," he said aloud as he applied the retro rockets and came to a relative halt. The IC's reacted in plenty of time and veered away once more but not before getting off several good shots. He checked his sensors and saw that the probe was less than six minutes away from the planet. "Sorry guys, no more time to play, gotta scoot." The engines whined in pain as he once more applied full throttle and transferred some of the extra power to them. The rest went to the shields.

For the next few minutes McKendrick maintained course towards his target. He readied the tractor beam while dodging laser fire. If I make it, he thought. I'm dying the death of a thousand cuts here.

The planet began taking shape out of the void. First as a dull point then it slowly grew to a definite disc as he appraoched it. He couldn't see it but his sensors told him he was close. Just a little over two minutes away and then he'd hauled that puppy back from whence it came.

Impact T-2 minutes 45 seconds

McKendrick

F.E. #13

[RP] Off

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Impact ÔÇô 2.45 minutes

[Narrative On]

Reynolds awoke to find himself being shaken from side to side by an unseen asailant. Forcing his eyes open, he was horrified to discover that he was still entoumbed within the modified shuttlecraft where the Gunny had stuffed him during the battle in the shuttlebay.

When panic overtook him, he pushed the deckplating painfully off him and heard a shriek of terror he never expected from the shuttles single occupant.

ÔÇ£You *******!ÔÇØ shouted McKendrick from the cockpit. ÔÇ£What the hell are you trying to do? Scare me to death?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Whats going on?ÔÇØ said Reynolds, wearily.

The shuttle again rocked, this time by weapons fire from the persuing interceptors.

ÔÇ£Never mind whats going on, what the hell are you still doing here?ÔÇØ

Reynolds didnÔÇÖt have an immediate answer. ÔÇ£Uh, keeping out of harms way, I think.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Sorry to say, but it looks like with all the excitement, somebody forgot to pick you up before I left. My bad.ÔÇØ

Reynolds thought he heard McKendrick chuckle. ÔÇ£Where the hell are we?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£You donÔÇÖt want to know, sir.ÔÇØ Said McKendrick, regaining his composure. ÔÇ£All I can do is say IÔÇÖm sorry.ÔÇØ

Reynolds didnÔÇÖt like the sound of that. ÔÇ£Sorry, what do you mean sorry? Wheres Neena, the Seargent or the Doc?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Back on board the Chikuma, if sheÔÇÖs still there.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£What?!?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Long story, sir. With luck, I might get round to telling it to you one day.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£I donÔÇÖt understand.ÔÇØ Said Reynolds.

Just then, the shuttle pulled an unadvisable emergency maneuver, then resumed itÔÇÖs previous course. McKendrick flew from the cockpit, and quickly ran down the length of the shuttlebay towards Reynolds.

ÔÇ£Whats going on?ÔÇØ again asked Reynolds.

McKendrick smiled. ÔÇ£We got a little over three minutes to save the world.ÔÇØ

Reynolds frowned at him. ÔÇ£The weapon, itÔÇÖs launched?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Got it in one, sir. And now,ÔÇØ McKendrick picked up the discarding deck plating and pushed it down again over Reynolds. ÔÇ£ItÔÇÖs time for you to get backin your cubby hole.ÔÇØ

Reynolds began to protest, but it was soon muffled out as the plating took itÔÇÖs place. ÔÇ£YouÔÇÖll thank me for this one day, sir.ÔÇØ

McKendrick locked down the plating, and made sure it was secure. As an after thought, on his way back up to the cockpit he added ÔÇ£At least, I hope so.ÔÇØ

Impact T ÔÇô 2 minutes

[Narrative Off]

Impact T ÔÇô 3 minutes

[Narrative On]

Jensen, on the bridge of the Chikuma immediately called to sickbay to get either the doctor or the combat medic Jayce Allen to attend to the unconscious Neena Polovoski.

Realising a few moments that internal comms were now down, she gave up the effort and ordered Gambit to get down there and bring back help.

ÔÇ£Leutenant!ÔÇØ said Gambit after receiving his orders. ÔÇ£We have a new problem.ÔÇØ

Jensen groaned. This was getting better and better.

ÔÇ£GCV ÔÇô Torino is on an intercept course. ETA to firing range 2 minutes.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Oh god.ÔÇØ Said Jensen. There was no way the Chikuma could sustain another attack from a fresh Battlecruiser.

ÔÇ£Whats the status of our shields and weapons?ÔÇØ

Gambit fought with the damage control computer. ÔÇ£Shields are slowly recharging, currently at 18%. Weapons systems are offline. I can bypass and give us a couple of IOD shots In a minute or two, but thatÔÇÖs about it.ÔÇØ

Jensen checked her own console. ÔÇ£Maneuver jets are all but destroyed. Main propulsion offline.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£WeÔÇÖre screwed.ÔÇØ Said Gambit.

Jensen nodded. ÔÇ£If you got any cigars, Gambit, now might be the time to light them up.ÔÇØ

Gambit frowned, then again checked the damage control computer. ÔÇ£Just had an idea, sir.ÔÇØ

Jensen, who was out of ideas herself was eager to hear the suggestions of the interceptor pilot. ÔÇ£DonÔÇÖt keep me in suspense.ÔÇØ She said.

Gambit was already working on his solution. He didnÔÇÖt have time to explain exactly what he was doing, and instead summarised it with a few brief words. ÔÇ£Shunting power from life support into the shield grid.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Oh, great plan.ÔÇØ Mocked Jensen. ÔÇ£Without life support, weÔÇÖll all be dead in 15 minutes.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Without supplementing the shields with power from life support, weÔÇÖll all be dead in three minutes. At least this way we might be able to hang on for another 5 minutes.ÔÇØ

Jensen sighed and retook her position at helm. ÔÇ£IÔÇÖll take those five minutes. I might even be able to orient the Chikuma a little towards our assasin, see if I can give you a target to shoot at.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£One for the road, sir?ÔÇØ

Jensen smirked. ÔÇ£Why the hell not Gambit? Lets go out fighting.ÔÇØ

Impact T ÔÇô 2 minutes

[Narrative Off]

------------------

F.C KARL 'BLADES' SAVAGE

ORION FLEET

TSUNAMI BATTLE GROUP

GCV - TSUNAMI Ôäó

www.orion-hq.fsnet.co.uk

'For Queen and country'

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Impact T-1 minute 50 seconds

McKendrick settled back down into the pilot's chair after having the scare of his life. He fully expected Mallone to come crawling out of the console now. He gave it a few half hearted taps and tried to chuckle. It died in his throat even before it half formed as more laser fire drew his attention to flying the shuttle.

He quickly threw the shuttle in another victory roll. It was almost the only thing that delayed the peppering of the IC's guns. He had tried sending false signals to the interceptors. Patrol hadn't worked, RTB hadn't worked, Autoland hadn't worked. He had tried a jamming signal. The pilots simply rotated frequency phasing. The shuttle's transmitters just did not have the guts to punch through that. He had even half-heartedly tried the tractor beam again. Though each attempt had gained him a few precious seconds lead they were simply too good for him. Understandable in a flying box, he thought grimly. They were just too good.

-------------------------

(T- 1 minute 30 seconds

"Autopilots engaged!" screamed Dancer over the comms.

"Revert to manual," said Bruce as he combined voice with action. A few seconds later an RTB order danced across his screen. He quickly cancelled the Torino as the flight path and reassigned the shuttle while ordering Dancer to do the same. The tractor beam lashed out once more and almost caught Bruce unawares.

"Damn he's good," said Dancer. "I didn't think shuttles could do that."

"Hang on Dancer," said Bruce, "He ain't got nowheres ta hide."

The IC pilots concentrated on firing at the renegade shuttle. Several shots connected but not quickly enough to damage the shields to any significant degree. The recharge rate was slowing but he would still make planetfall before they could get him. Damn that SOB was good thought Bruce as the shuttle surged forward.

T - 1 minute)

-------------------------

T- 1 minute 15 seconds

He had run out of tricks and his evavise manuevers were losing their originality as well. They grew increasingly complex. Swing left, then right, then a roll, then two, then half a roll and back the other way. He was becoming increasingly predictable. The seconds he had gained waxed and wained by the tell-tale thud of laser fire against the shields. They were having an increasingly difficult time recharging and not even the augmentation of the extra power source had helped. The system itself was the bottleneck. He applied some of the spare power to the engines and surged forward.

T - 1 minute

He had it. He had gotten a positive lock on the probe. It had taken steady flying and some little fire from the interceptors but he had it. As he prepared to head back towards open space McKendrick activated the tractor beam.

T- 55 seconds

The tractor had failed to lock on. McKendrick quickly double checked his flight path. It showed it had been true but had apparently been off by a hair. He lined up again and the tractor beam lanced out once more only to find empty space.

T - 45 seconds.

McKendrick checked his sensors and cursed. The probe was shifting sheild harmonics to counter-act his tractor beam. It was performing a jink maneuver as well. Mallone or his cronies had been smart. The probe had passed him once more as he thought out to do what next. Another shot from the interceptors hit his sheilds while the others passed harmlessly by him. They passed by him but not the probe. The shots hit the probe and momentarily disrupted its cloak. McKendrick saw it for the first time. It looked rather like a wasp. The probe had been mounted more toward the engines and the cone was pointing aft. It's solar panels had swept rearward obviously for entry into the atmosphere. It made sense. The normal heat sheilding provided the engines would also shield against atmospheric entry. The probe would burn up shortly allowing the missile to drop and redirect itself towards its target. Another shot from the interceptors disabled the probes cloak allowing McKendrick to finally see his target unhindered.

T - 40 seconds.

The tractor beam would not work. He would open the shuttle cargo doors and catch the damn thing if it weren't for his passenger. McKendrick thought of his passenger and how he had gotten there. The fight that had caused that. What had caused that he did not know and Neena could not explain either. Only that Stone was gone and Mallone had taken over. He thought of Neena and holding her. He thought of Stephanie and how she had found him in the shuttle. He wondered how she was. He thought of all his friends aboard the Chikuma and the events that had led to him being there. The years in Galcom academy studying to be an interceptor pilot only to be told he was more suited to being a flight engineer. The years in the city that had led him to Galcom academy. His childhood that had made him want something more after seeing the airshow. They had been so graceful. His eyes felt puffy and his throat constricted as he pushed the shuttle once more. Having the probe in his sights helped. He hit the probe hard. It only served to push him back and the probe forward.

T - 30 seconds.

He had hit the probe too hard. It took him a few seconds to catch back up and hit it again.

T - 20 seconds

He was getting the hang of it. His sensors showed internal damage of the missile itself. He had still pushed it a litle too hard. perhaps a lighter tap. Once more laser fire danced off the sheilds.

T - 15 seconds.

He got under the probe and missile this time and hit upwards. He had already knocked it off course a couple of times. It should have entered atmosphere a while back. He hit it again.

T - 13 seconds

And again.

T - 12 seconds

And again for Rod, whom he had saved from death but condemned to life.

T - 11 seconds

Once more for Stephanie. The sensors showed internal damage but it fizzled out and stabilised.

T - 10 seconds

And a final thrust for Neena. The sensors showed a reaction.

T - 9 seconds

It was building in spurts. Slowly rising then falling again. A quick burst then almost nothing.

T - 8 seconds

Then a slow burn. Slow but hard. Lethargic yet intense and destined to light up the heavens.

T - 6 seconds

McKendrick banked the shuttle hard. The engines screamed in agony at the power applied to them. The shields throbbed and the console gave off sparks as the power conduits tried to handle so much energy coursing through them. Sgt Diamond had yelled something in the moment of their impending doom in the shuttle bay.

T - 5 seconds

It had helped. "FOR LIFE!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

T - 0 seconds

The heavens lit up.

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Detonation + 0 minutes 0 seconds

[Narrative On]

Sixty miles above the surface of the Drodian homeworld, the sky burned. Those in the vast cities below looked up into the sky and saw a new sun come into existance. Command personel in their bunkers watched their systems flicker and darken from the massive EMP wave that engulfed the planet. Emergenty backups then came online, and as the seconds passed they began to realise what had just happened.

A weapon of unbelieveable destructive power had detonated just outside of their atmosphere, a weapon of such awesome damage potential, had it detoned a few seconds later, within the atmosphere of the planet itself it would have scorched every living thing and reduced a proud civilisation to rubble.

The massive discharge from the RANDOMS misdirectied detonation cut a swathe through the communications and sensor jamming from Stiles renegade fleet. All at once, the Drodians could now see what was happening in their space and to their station.

The response was impressive.

A fleet of warships began a gradual lift off from the planets surface. A legion of starfighters burned from their platforms skyward, ready and eager to intercept the invaders.

What troubled them most was not that they had been attacked, but that the attack was apparantly from GalCom.

Retrubution would be swift and brutal.

Detonation + 4 minutes 50 seconds.

[Narrative Off]

Detonation + 1 minute 45 seconds

[Narrative On]

ÔÇ£Are sensors back online yet?ÔÇØ asked Fleet Commander Stiles from the bridge of the GCV Universe.

ÔÇ£Coming back online now.ÔÇØ Replied Kyle, the Universes Tactical officer.

Stiles approached his junior officer. ÔÇ£Is the target neutralised?ÔÇØ

Kyle spent a few moments pulling the sensor information from the computer. He checked his readings again, just to be sure.

ÔÇ£Negative, sir. The device did not enter the atmosphere.ÔÇØ

Stiles slumped against the tacops terminal and burried his head in his arms. ÔÇ£What happened?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Sir, IÔÇÖm not sure. We were tracking the Chikuma shuttle and two of our ICÔÇÖs just prior to weapon entry. It looks like the shuttle knocked the probe off course just enough to have it skim off the atmosphere.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£But the weapon detonated?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Yes sir. The EMP wave from the device knocked everything out within a 12,000km range, but it did not detonate in the atmosphere.ÔÇØ

Stiles was devestated. Although the random device was easily the most powerful destructive weapon ever built, it required the presence of an atmosphere to spread itÔÇÖs destructive hell fire to the four corners of the globe. Without an atmosphere, it was nothing more than an expensive nuke with a limited damage potential.

The destruction of Drodia had failed.

ÔÇ£Status of the planet?ÔÇØ asked Stiles.

ÔÇ£Sir, a massive response has been launched from the planets surface. The lead elements of this response will interept us in three minutes.ÔÇØ

Stiles frowned. It was barley enough time to secure the target and allowed no extra time to pillage the station further.

ÔÇ£Have the boarding partys prepare to return to the ship. Order the fleet to assume a bombardment line just outside the planet. Have them nuke the planet from orbit.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£But sir,ÔÇØ began Kyle. ÔÇ£theres so many fighters down there, they will intercept the nukes and shoot them down before they reach their targets.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£I know.ÔÇØ Said Stiles. ÔÇ£But it will buy us a few more seconds and allow us a chance to escape.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£And the rest of the fleet?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£The rest of the fleet will burn.ÔÇØ

Kyle swallowed. Sir 

ÔÇ£Stow it Kyle. Theres no other choice.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Aye, sir.ÔÇØ Said the TacOps officer.

Less than a minute later, the first of the OTS weapons left the launch bays of StilesÔÇÖs renegade fleet and began their slow descent to the planets surface. As expected, the Drodian fleets interceptors began tracking the incomming missiles and broke off to persue them.

ÔÇ£Sir!ÔÇØ shouted Kyle.

ÔÇ£What is it?ÔÇØ responded Stiles.

ÔÇ£Sir, the target has been aquired. The boarding crews are securing it in cargo bay two. We are ready to leave.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Not a moment too soon.ÔÇØ Said Stiles, abscent mindedly. ÔÇ£Helm, detatch unbillicals, aft thrusters at one half, port and starboard thrusters at station keeping.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Aye sir.ÔÇØ Said the helmsman. ÔÇ£Detatching.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Get us the hell out of here, and pray like hell the Corsairs donÔÇÖt catch up with us ..ÔÇØ

Detonation + 4 minutes 10 seconds.

[Narrative off]

Detonation + 1 minute 30 seconds

[Narrative On]

The Chikuma was aflame.

Two minutes before, the Torino, the second ship dispatched to destroy the Chikuma entered weapons range and began raining down fire on the next to helpless ship.

The early shots from the TorinoÔÇÖs IOD systematically reduced the recharged shields to next to nothing. ItÔÇÖs turret fire pecked away at the Chikumas brittle armour and burrowed inward and wrecked havoc with the ships internal systems. Life support, internal communications and the fire suppression systemswere the first systems to go down. Less than a minute later, the reactor failed and plunged the ship into complete darkness. Emergency batteries immediately clicked on, but their power was rapidly being sapped and shunted into the shield grid.

Somehow, the Chikuma held on, refusing to give up, not giving into the superior firepower of the Torino and giving her an easy victory.

On the bridge, Gambit and Jensen fought for every second to keep the Chikuma together. A pinpoint strike from the ships IOD system even managed to deter the Torino from engaging the ship at close range, and forced the aggressor to break off from itÔÇÖs attack and approach from a new, safe angle. This had bought the Chikuma perhaps two minutes, although this time was just about up.

ÔÇ£Status?ÔÇØ croaked Neena polovoski, who had just begun to regain consciouness.

ÔÇ£Neena!ÔÇØ shouted Jensen, giving up her post and going to her friends side. ÔÇ£I thought weÔÇÖd heard the last from you.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£IÔÇÖll be damned if IÔÇÖm gonna die in my sleep, Tams.ÔÇØ

The Chikuma rocked again, the first hits from the TorinoÔÇÖs turrets now coming into range.

ÔÇ£We in bad shape?ÔÇØ

Jensen frowned at her. ÔÇ£Nothing but spit n balls holding us together now, sir. We played our last card.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Planet?ÔÇØ wheezed the executive officer.

Jensen smiled at her. ÔÇ£McKendrick did it, sir. He stopped the probe. We won.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Where ..ÔÇØ started Neena.

Jensen cut her off with a downward glance. ÔÇ£He rammed the probe, sir. Knocked it slightly off course before detonation.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£It blew?ÔÇØ

Jensen nodded. ÔÇ£He vanishedfrom our scopes the instant it blew. He couldnÔÇÖt have survived.ÔÇØ

Neena closed her eyes and a single tear broke free and rolled down her cheek. ÔÇ£I shouldnÔÇÖt have called him Kenny. He hated that.ÔÇØ

Jensen placed a reasuring hand on Neenas undamaged shoulder. ÔÇ£He knew what was being asked of him, Neena. He did his duty. He saved them all. 8 billion people. He died a hero.ÔÇØ

Neena looked up into the barley functional viewscreen at the menacing visage of the approaching Torino. ÔÇ£What good is being a hero if theres nobody left to tell the story?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£We know.ÔÇØ Said Jensen. ÔÇ£ThatÔÇÖs all that matters.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£ItÔÇÖs more than that.ÔÇØ Said Neena. ÔÇ£Nobody is going to know what really happened out here. Nobody.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Commander!ÔÇØ shouted gambit, who had remained occupied since Neenas revival. ÔÇ£Sir, the Torino is about to enter main gun range. IÔÇÖve got one more shot ready to fire, but nothing to aim at. Shall I shunt the power into the shields?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Negative.ÔÇØ Said Neena. ÔÇ£If we go out, we go out barring our teeth. Prepare to fire.ÔÇØ

Gambit questoned his superiors motives. There was, after all, nothing for them to fire at. Shunting the power into the shields would protect them for perhaps another 15 seconds.

Whatever his personal objections, he had also resigned hmself to the fact that nothing short of a miricle could save them now. 15 seconds of additional survival time didnÔÇÖt seem like long enough to generate one.

ÔÇ£Aye sir, main gun online. Ready to fire in 6 .. 5 .. 4 .. 3 ..ÔÇØ

Just then, Gambits miricle happened.

Detonation + 4 minutes 45 seconds.

[Narrative Off]

------------------

F.C KARL 'BLADES' SAVAGE

ORION FLEET

TSUNAMI BATTLE GROUP

GCV - TSUNAMI Ôäó

www.orion-hq.fsnet.co.uk

'For Queen and country'

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Hmmm ... to coin a phrase " ... dead men tell no tales ..." wink.gif

[rp]

GCV Graf Spee

Undetermined Location, Gammulan Quadrant

Launch - 4 minutes 03 seconds

"Range to target 75km and closing, ETA 2 minutes Commander," Lt. Ron Rico Cuervo reportes from his station at TacOps.

"Excellent! Notify the rest of the wolfpack," was the Battlecruiser Commander's reply. The Corsair Wolfpack was about to experience another productive and profitable excursion into the Gammulan shipping lanes. An excursion that couldn't have happened at a most needed time for the Corsair Wing. For reasons unknown, the lastest resupply shipment hadn't arrived at Woldpack's lair, Cerberus Starbase on LV-103. So being the Corsairs that he and his wingmates are, Commander Gallion decided to do their own requisitioning and procurement the old fashioned way - they took it!

"Range to first Tarin MKII Transport 49.8km and closing, ETA 45 seconds. The rest of the pack have the remaining 3 transports targeted and are closing also."

This is to good to be true, the Corsair leader thought to himself as the buzzing in his head began once again - which usually indicated dire straights for the Graf Spee and her crew.

"Urgent message recieved from from Wraith HQ Commander. Your eyes only," piped the Comms duty officer.

Clenching his lips together and muttering foul adjectives and phrases of various galactic origin, Gallion perused this so-called urgent message.

Gallion had to read the message and verify its authentication twice before slamming his fist on the arm of his command chair. Smashing that special communcations device he installed there. "Bloody hell!" he said to nothing and no one in particular.

He used the command overides and set a new Nav course for the Corsair Wolfpack. At the same time he opened the Wolfpack commlink. "Disengage targets and break-off," Gallion ordered the Corsair Wolfpack, "Set course to these Nav coordinates. Maintain comm silence until reaching destination. Corsair OUT!"

A Gammulan transport convoy was once again saved by a timely or untimely message from Wraith HQ. Although he knew better, Gallion couldn't help himself from thinking that his Fleet Commander had it in for him. Why, he couldn't honestly think of a single reason. Actually, Gallion could think of a plethora of reasons why ...

"Nav/Helm, what is our ETA?" he asked, breaking his self revelie.

"Approximately Ten minutes, give or take a few, if we are lucky Commander an' we don't run into any problems at the SN jump point," replied the Nav officer.

"Or anything else," muttered Gallion to himself as the Graf Spee and the Corsair Wolfpack completed the first hyperspace jump towards their destination - The Drodian Homeworld located on the other side of the Galaxy ...

Launch - 1 minutes 0 seconds

[/rp]

------------------

Cmdr. Gallion

GCV Graf Spee

Commander, Corsair Wing

=Wraith Fleet=

Bushi of the Dragon Council

"Run Silent, Run Deep"

ICQ# 29486270

Before anyone cries Fowl, travel based on the game and not reality or theoretical physics.

[This message has been edited by Gallion (edited 01-22-2000).]

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[RP] On

[Narrative On]

Detonation + 20 seconds

Few lights showed through the smoke in the cabin and electrical arcing could be heard throughout. The shuttle tumbled through space while the damaged systems tried to recover from the massive EMP that had washed through it. The force of the explosion itself had followed shorly thereafter. Already dead from the EMP, the shuttle shook as the shockwave had battered it violently while pushing it back towards open space.

Detonation + 45 seconds

McKendrick heard groaning; only to realize it was himself. He raised himself up off the floor where he had been thrown when the Guardran field had failed. Smoke filled the cabin and he only saw a few lights on the console. Some were blinking and some were not. As he watched a few more winked into existence. The thrum of the ventilation fans gave evidence of the life support system working overtime to clear the air. One fan squeaked somewhere deep in the shuttle.

The reactors were just coming back online as were the sensors. The batteries had kept life support going but not much else. He pulled himself back into the command chair and winced as a couple of ribs ground their broken ends together. Smoke was stinging his eyes and a bead of sweat refused to drop off his eyebrow. Wiping it away he looked at his hand to see it had turned red with blood.

Punching in the commands that would finalize the restart of the reactors he coughed again and winced at the pain. He brought up Tacops to see what the situation was. He searched for the Chikuma and found her. She had obviously been through a battle from the TTD readings showing intermittently on the Tacops display. And it appeared another ship was heading towards her. The Torino. The Chikuma didn't look like she would last against her.

Detonation + 1 minute

Another group of Battlecruisers showed on the far side of the display but it would take some time for them to reach the action. The Chikuma didn't appear to have that much time. If he could only buy her a few seconds.

The engines refused to start. They had been abused over and over in his flight from the interceprtors and his pursuit of the probe. McKendrick took a wrench and crawled through the upper access hatch. When he got to the engines he saw nothing wrong yet they refused to start. He took the wrench and beat it in frustration. They still refused to start. McKendrick kneeled there sobbing. Preparing to watch the Chikuma's death he petulently delivered one last blow to a control box. A relay clicked, then another, and yet another and the engines came online.

McKendrick climbed back into the command chair. Either hope or adrenaline filled him. A discordant hum filled the shuttle. The engines were not happy about being called upon once more as were the reactors. An off cycle vibration filled the shuttle as more and more systems came back online. McKendrick looked out the cracked viewport to see the occasional flare of IOD fire.

Detonation + 3 minutes

Checking Tacops he saw the Chikuma fighting the Torino. She was actually holding her off. The Torino was trying to come around for an aft shot while the Chikuma was desperately trying to turn. McKendrick had fought the shuttle's forward momentum and had actually stabilised the craft. He was almost close enought to see the Torino and the Chikuma. He set a course ofr the Torino nd the discordant hum inside the shuttle grew and the engines and reactors fought with each other.

He had the Torino in view. She was firing upon the Chikuma. They had to be linked with Mallone to be firing upon the Chikuma. Just a little more, he thought.

McKendrick shot past the Torino's engines and hugged her side. He actually saw view ports glide by as he was that close. He casually picked out sections he would like to destroy as he lined up the tractor beam that amazingly was the one system that while still damaged, was showing as green in the display. McKendrick shot past the bridge and was in "open" space once more. Once more the tractor beam shot out from the belly of the shuttle.

McKendendrick was slammed against the viewport as the tractor beam locked onto the Torino and her mass suddenly slowed the shuttle to the relative speed of the Torino. McKendrick coughed blood as he picked himself up off the floor. Seeing the Chikuma in the viewport he knew he had to get the Torino out of range some how. She was belching fire in places and basically looked like he felt.

Slowly the Torino was oriented into the shuttle's tractor beam. McKendrick, not bothering to expend the energy to sit doen, kneeled at the console and applied all the thrust he could to the engines while maintaining a valid tractor lock. The shuttle throbbed terribly at the demands McKendrick placed upon it. System after system blew while the shuttle tried to regain it's integrity.

Shields died first. No matter though Kenny, shields are useless with a tractor beam anyway. Then Tacops went. McKendrick paid it no mind as he was operating on visual now. The NID computer blew as did the CVD screen. So long as the tractor held. The shuttle vibrated violently.

Kenny watched the Chikuma slide slowly out of his field of vision as he dragged the Torino past any firing solution.

Detonation + 4 minutes 40 seconds.

[Narrative Off]

Kenny

[RP] Off

[This message has been edited by Charles Lindsey (edited 01-23-2000).]

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Detonation + 4 minutes 40 seconds.

[Narrative On]

Out of knowhere, the brutalised Chikuma shuttle struck out at the mighty GCV ÔÇô Torino with a tractor beam and snared the unforgiving giant.

On the bridge of the devestated Chikuma, Neena Polovoski, Tamara Jensen and the Interceptor pilot, Gambit stared in awe at the spectacular sight.

ÔÇ£Oh my god.ÔÇØ Said Neena, quietly. ÔÇ£I donÔÇÖt believe it.ÔÇØ

Is that  McKendrick? asked Gambit, his eyes fixed on the viewscreens unlikely image.

Neena was silent, but inwardly verified Gambits question.

On the viewscreen they watched as the Torino lashed out in rage at the offending little shuttle. Fire spat from itÔÇÖs turrets as it tried to swat McKendrick from the sky.

Fortunately for the shuttle, itÔÇÖs relative position to the bigger ship made it hard, but not impossible for the turrets to lock on and further devestate him.

Neena, shrugging off the momentary incapacitation from the startling sight of McKendricks shuttle suddenly became aware of what was happening. Not only was McKendrick distracting the Torino from its primary target, but he was pulling her out of the IODs range of attack .. and directly into the path of the Chikumas own.

ÔÇ£Fore view!ÔÇØ Neena shouted to Gambit.

A split second later, Gambit acknowledged and the view shifted from the aft screen to the fore.

Moments later, the shuttle came into view, as did the massive hulk of the fore section of the Torino.

ÔÇ£The Torino is trying to shift shield harmonics to disrupt the tractor beam!ÔÇØ reported Gambit.

ÔÇ£It wont work.ÔÇØ Said Neena, pushing herself to Gambits side. ÔÇ£Since both vessels are of GalCom origin, the shuttle computer knows the rotational pattens of the TorinoÔÇÖs shields. It can adjust to keep in phase without losing tractor lock.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£So long as the Torino doesnÔÇÖt reset itÔÇÖs shields at least.ÔÇØ Said Jensen.

Gambit gasped. ÔÇ£ThatÔÇÖs it!ÔÇØ he cried.

NeenaÔÇÖs eyes lit up. ÔÇ£Get me a target on the TorinoÔÇÖs engines.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Way ahead of you, sir!ÔÇØ said the excited Gambit.

Jensen look puzzled. ÔÇ£I donÔÇÖt get it.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£No time!ÔÇØ said Neena, checking over Gambits tactical station and keeping a careful watch on the shuttle.

ÔÇ£Come on Kenny, keep it together for a few more seconds.ÔÇØ

The midsection of the Torino came into view. The shuttle, well ahead at this point was taking a terrible beating. Every turret hit blew another piece of the shuttle apart.

ÔÇ£Sir!ÔÇØ shouted Gambit. ÔÇ£The Torino, sheÔÇÖs dropping shields and resetting!ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Stand by to fire!ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Aye sir, awaiting target lock!ÔÇØ

The shuttleÔÇÖs tractor beam started to wink out. The lock was being nullified by the dropping of the shields, not to mention the battering by the TorinoÔÇÖs turret fire.

Just a few more seconds .

Suddenly, the aft section of the Torino came into the bridgeviewers line of sight. At the same time, the TorinoÔÇÖs shileds dropped.

ÔÇ£Target aquired!ÔÇØ screamed Gambit.

No hesitation. ÔÇ£Open fire!ÔÇØ

Twin balls of energy lanced out into space at the unsuspecting GCV ÔÇô Torino. The sudden impact tore into the unshielded engines of the ship and caused a cataclysmic explosion. Fragments from the engines, and a large piece from the port wing blew out into open space and burned.

All systems on the Torino immediately winked out, and only after a few seconds of complete darkness did emergency power begin to come online. However, the ships propulsion system was completely destroyed and with it the vessels primary reactor.

ÔÇ£Status of the Tornio!ÔÇØ yelled Neena.

Gambit quickly scanned the ship with what was left of the sensors. ÔÇ£Reading almost complete power failure. Engines are blown, maneuver thrusters are offline. Shields and weapons are offline.ÔÇØ

Gambit turned and faced his commanding officer with a beaming smile. ÔÇ£SheÔÇÖs dead in space, sir.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Good shooting.ÔÇØ Said Neena, smiling back. ÔÇ£YouÔÇÖve earned your pay this trip.ÔÇØ

Gambit laughed. ÔÇ£WeÔÇÖll talk about my overtime rates later, commander.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Neena!ÔÇØ said Jensen from the helm console. ÔÇ£Sir, the shuttle!ÔÇØ

Neena turned from Gambit and stared into the viewscreen.

Her heart sank.

The shuttle was devestated. ItÔÇÖs integrity was next to nothing and it was aflame in space, a mass of sparks and small explosions covering itÔÇÖs surface.

ÔÇ£Oh god.ÔÇØ Said Neena. ÔÇ£Gambit, I donÔÇÖt care how you do it, but I want you to go out there and bring him in.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Aye sir.ÔÇØ Said Gambit, immediately bolting from the tacops position and to the bridge exit. ÔÇ£IÔÇÖll bring him back, sir. Count on it.ÔÇØ

With that, he was gone.

Jensen, fully aware that her usefullness at the helm was at an end replaced Gambit at TacOps and began monitoring the surrounding space with what little sensors she had.

ÔÇ£Sir, IÔÇÖm detecting a lot of activity from the Drodian homeworld.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£What kind?ÔÇØ asked Neena.

ÔÇ£It looks like the Drodian forces are intercepting the renegade fleet. Most of it, anyway.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Most of it?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Aye, sir. Theres a single ship, the GCV ÔÇô Universe making a run for it.ÔÇØ

Neena thought for a moment. Thats  Fleet Commander Stiles flag ship.

ÔÇ£Aye sir.ÔÇØ Said Jensen. ÔÇ£The rest of the fleet must be buying him time to escape.ÔÇØ

Neena shook her head. ÔÇ£Son of a bitch. HeÔÇÖs not getting away, not on my watch. Whats the position of the Wolf Pack?ÔÇØ

Jensen pulled up the relavant information. ÔÇ£They are still ten minutes out from our position, and one of the ships has broken from the others and is trying to intercept Stiles.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£What ship?ÔÇØ asked Neena.

ÔÇ£Sir, I think itÔÇÖs the Graff Spee, Commander Gallions ship.ÔÇØ

Gallion. If anyone could intercept Stiles before he escaped the system, it was him.

ÔÇ£Intercept time?ÔÇØ

Calculating .. said Jensen. Sir, the numbers are not adding . What?

ÔÇ£What is it?ÔÇØ asked Neena.

Sir, the Universe . She just cloaked.

Neena thumped the console. ÔÇ£Dammit!ÔÇØ

Jensen checked again, made sure she was reading the TacOps information correctly. ÔÇ£Confirmed sir, heÔÇÖs cloaked.ÔÇØ

Neena sighed. ÔÇ£And if heÔÇÖs under cloak, heÔÇÖs next to impossible to track down. And there just arenÔÇÖt enough Wraithers out there to blockade the jump gates.ÔÇØ

Jensen nodded, solemly. ÔÇ£There will be other times, Neena. He cant out run the fleet forever.ÔÇØ

Neena frowned. ÔÇ£Your right. And when the fleet catches up with him, I want to be right there, firing the first shot.ÔÇØ

Detonation + 8 minutes 15 seconds.

[Narrative Off]

Detonation + 10 minutes 30 seconds.

On the bridge of the GCV ÔÇô Universe, Fleet Commander Stiles let out resigned sigh.

Although the operation had been successful as so far as obtaining the target, the failed bombing of Drodia and the destruction of his fleet left him feeling empty.

And still, his troubles were not over.

ÔÇ£Status of the Graff Spee?ÔÇØ asked Stiles.

ÔÇ£Sir,ÔÇØ started Kyle. ÔÇ£The Graff Spee is littering the area with probes, trying to track us down. We are moving out of range.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Hows our exit vector?ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£Clean sir. There are not enough ships to cover all possible routes. We are clear.ÔÇØ

Stiles nodded. It was good news, but he wished it had been better. He now concluded that it had been a mistake to rely on the cooperation of Commander Stones, or in fact rely on the brutality of his marine commander, Mallone. Both had failed him in one way or another, but he had to give credit to the officers and crew of the Chikuma. He had underestimated the impact one rebelious crew could have on the operation. That was a mistake he wouldnÔÇÖt make again in the future.

ÔÇ£The Torino?ÔÇØ asked Stiles.

ÔÇ£Dead in space, sir.ÔÇØ Reported Kyle. ÔÇ£SheÔÇÖs sending out an SOS. The Corsairs are approaching.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£And the fleet at Drodia?ÔÇØ

Kyle sighed. ÔÇ£Gone sir.ÔÇØ

Stiles shook his head. Such a waste. ÔÇ£Tell me about the Drodians.ÔÇØ

Kyle pulled up the info from the tacops computer. ÔÇ£Sir, a large contingent of ships are moving to intercept the Wraith fleet and the Chikuma. They are approaching on an aggressive stance, but have yet to engage.ÔÇØ

Stiles smirked. ÔÇ£You never know, they might start shooting at each other and forget all about us.ÔÇØ

ÔÇ£You never know, sir.ÔÇØ

The helm terminal bleeped, and an officer sitting there reported the jump engines were fully charged and ready to engage.

ÔÇ£Set course for escape point Beta.ÔÇØ Said Stiles.

ÔÇ£Course set.ÔÇØ Replied the ships navigator.

ÔÇ£Helm, get us the hell out of here. Take us ÔÇÿhomeÔÇÖ.ÔÇØ

The Universe dissapeared into the night.

Detonation + 13 minutes 50 seconds.

[Narrative Off]

Detonation + 15 minutes 10 seconds.

[Narrative On]

Down in the Chikumas medbay, McKendrick lay beaten on a diagnostic terminal, just barley conscious.

Surrounding him were the survivors of the Chikumas insurection. Neena at his side was holding his bloodied hand. Jayce Allen, the medic turned commando rapidly assisted the wounded doctor with his diagnostics. Gambit too stood nearby, looking past the shoulder of Tamara Jensen and the recently revived Ailsa Strang. They all had one thing in common, they were survivors, even heroes. But none more so than their mortally wounded comrade, an average flight engineer with exceptional courage.

ÔÇ£Doctor?ÔÇØ asked Neena as he approached her.

He looked at her, tried a comforting half smile and then shook his head slowly.

Neena turned away, feeling tears well up in her eyes, but snapped them back before allowing them to flow.

Just then Rod, the droid that had assisted McKendrick in his recent activities extended his cranial unit and peered down at McKendrick. Stumbling up behind Rod was Gunny Seargent Diamond, himself a physical wreck, but at least alive.

Detonation + 15 minutes 50 seconds

[Narrative Off]

IÔÇÖll hand off to Charles now.

------------------

F.C KARL 'BLADES' SAVAGE

ORION FLEET

TSUNAMI BATTLE GROUP

GCV - TSUNAMI Ôäó

www.orion-hq.fsnet.co.uk

'For Queen and country'

[This message has been edited by Blades (edited 01-24-2000).]

[This message has been edited by Blades (edited 01-24-2000).]

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[RP] On

McKendrick groaned, "Ken..., uhh McKendrick?" he heard, as someone squeezed his hand. He opened his eyes and saw Neena Polovoski above him. He felt like he had had the flu about four times over. He saw his comrades gathered around his bed.

Closing his eyes, and with the corners of his mouth twitching ever so slightly, he said, "Kenny is fine. I realize who I am now. How'd I get here?"

"Another shuttle towed you in"

"How? The Torino."

"You got her. We were able to able to fire when she reset her shields."

"Funny, I don't remember that. Was it a good fight?"

A small pause.

"We won."

A pause from McKendrick this time.

"The Chikuma?'

"We are alive"

"The Droidans?"

"Defending themselves."

The soft whisper of a servo broke the silence. "Rod?" A soft beep. Another small smile. "Tell them. Tell them all. Anyway you can. And take care of Neena till she can get you home."

Blurry eyes focused on Miss Polovoski. "Miss Pol.. Polo.., Neena," McKendrick raised his hand feebly towards her face and brushed her cheek. A tear ran down his face. "I'm sorry. I only wanted to be a fighter pilot. I wish I could have done better."

McKendrick's eyes fluttered closed for the last time and his breathing slowed to a standstill.

[RP] Off

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Hope I'm not out of line. I figured Gambit should bid our find young friend McKendrick farewell.

(RP on)

I heard a weak voice from behind. "I'm sorry. I only wanted to be a fighter pilot. I wish I could have done better."

A small gasp sounded behind us, and I turned to see one more casualty. I slowly stepped forward and bowed my head.

"You did better than any pilot could ever hope for, Ken." It took all my effort to choke out the words without faltering.

We'd all done our parts in this terrible incident. It wasn't fair that so many of this crew had been forced to pay the ultimate price.

There was at least one battlecruiser still out there. At least one battlecruiser that would one day hear the name Chikuma again. It would be in the message that they would receive mere moments before going up in an explosion as bright as any star.

Too quick, as far as I was concerned, but it would happen. It would happen!

Log entry for Gambit, IC-2 copilot, GCV Chikuma, entered.

------------------

Commander David Foss, GCV Deterrence

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Epilogue

Three days after Fleet Commander StilesÔÇÖs near catastrophic attack against the Drodian homeworld, the survivors of the GCV ÔÇô Chikuma arrived under escort of Gallions Wolf Pack, back at GalCom HQ.

The Chuikuma herself, virtually powerless and utterly devestated had been scuttled just outside of GalCom controlled space without ceremony, and without the surviving command crew ever knowing.

Leutenant Commander Neena Polovoski, like the rest of the senior staff were under house arrest on board the Graff Spee, charged with treason and the murders of the crew of the GCV - Berlin. The rest of the Chukuma crew had been freed from their locked down quarters and dispersed amongst the Wolf Pack ships and were awaiting debriefing back at Head Quarters.

Upon arrival at HQ, the Chikuma officers were hurried from the Corsair Wings flag ship and to a well guarded briefing room where Supreme Commander Reines and several key military and diplomatic personel awaited to hear their story.

The inquest went on for several days. Each officer in turn told their events of what had happened on the Chikuma, ranging from Stones involvement with the renegade Fleet Commander, to the clandestine meeting with the cloaked transport ship, to Mallones take over and finally, to the acts of desperation that saved the Drodians from anhiilation.

At itÔÇÖs conclusion, it was found that the crew of the Chikuma had acted bravely, against extreemly unfavourable odds and had been victorious in preventing the greatest massacre in living history. The charges were dropped.

The following day, a small, yet dignified ceremony was held commemorating those that had layed down their lives in defence of the Drodian people. The names of those that were lost would be remembered. Despite the secrecy of the ceremony and the near complete security lock down regarding the entire affair, the news media got hold of the story, and began braodcasting what little details they knew to the inhabitant of the Galaxy. Eventually, GalCom had to admit the existance of the RANDOM device, they insurection by former loyal GalCom commanders and the covert ÔÇÿBlack OpsÔÇÖ teams that nearly plunged the galaxy into war.

It was a public relations nightmare, but somehow, the tale of the Chikumas fight to preserve the peace brought stability to the scandle, and the peoples under the protection of GalCom soon came to forget the blunders, and remembered only the courage of the few that sacrificed so much to save an innocent world.

Shortly after the scandle broke, Leutenant Commander Neena Polovoski was promoted to full commander and assigned a Battle Cruiser of her own to command.

Tamara Jensen was promoted to Leutenant Commander, and was offored several positions within the fleet, including executive officer of the GCV ÔÇô Tsunami and a staff position at the GalCom Academy. She turned these assignments down after learning of NeenaÔÇÖs promotion to commander, and decided to accompany her on her new command.

Like Tamara, Leutenant Ailsa Strang opted to follow Neena to the new BattleCruiser, and resumed her position as chief Navigator.

Following extensive recovery, Ensign Reynolds was promoted to the rank of Leutenant and offered a staff position at Orion Fleet Headquaters in charge of communications. Despite his remarkable recovery, and the finest surgery in the fleet, he was not fit to resume duty on a battle Cruiser, and reluctantly took the position at Orion Fleet headquaters. He is currently settling in nicely, and is in regular contact with his former ship mates.

The Chikumas doctor opted to retire from the fleet after he concluded his debiefing. Although maintaining a reserve status, he returned to his home on earth and began working in a small, private practice. Thanks to his adventures in space, he became something of a local legend, and died a happy and wealthy man some thirty years later.

Gunny Seargent Diamond was promoted to First Seargent and following recovery from his Injuries, was reasigned to the Orion Starstation and eventually served as the Liason between the Tsunami Battle Group and the marine companys commanding officer.

Jayce Allen, the out of place combat medic was promoted to the rank of seargent and began lecturing at the GalCom academy. He hopes to return to active service in the near future and serve along side Neena Polovoski on her new command.

Interceptor Pilots Banish and Bigtone returned to active service after two weeks of extensive debriefing at headquaters and were given a choice of assignments throughout the fleet. They are still sifting through their choice of assignments.

After his brief stint as a TacOps Commander on board the GCV ÔÇô Chikuma, Gambit declined immediate reasignment and is awaiting the recovery of his collegue, Shodan, before deciding where his future lies.

Like Gambit, Shodan is considering his options carefully regarding his future. Although not completely recovered from his injuries as a result of the assault on the probe launch bay, he is confident that he could, if so desired, return to the flight roster. Several requests have already been put in for his crew, including from Commander Neena Polovoski although he has yet to decide.

Pancake and Blackjack returned to active duty two days after the hearing was complete. Both men were reassigned to separate Interceptor wings within the same fleet. They still maintain contact, and occasionally meet up to discuss old times at the ÔÇÿPilot CountryÔÇÖ rec lounge on the Orion Starstation.

The Orion Fleet found itself without a Fleet Commander when Stiles went renegade, and were quickly forced into promoting an existing officer to fill the gap. The Orion fleet was in chaos, thanks to the near total devestation Stiles had wrought on the Fleets administrative and logistical infrastructure, and in a move that many would condemn in the months to come, Commander Karl Savage of the GCV ÔÇô Tsunami was promoted to Fleet Commander in an effort to untangle the red tape and bring administrative stability back to the Fleet. His involvement in locating the Chikuma also made him something of a hero in the eyes of the dissalusioned public. It is this reason more than anything that has so far prevented him from being replaced.

The GCV ÔÇô Universe, under the command of the renegage Fleet Commander Stiles vanished into the night and has so far not been detected. It is feared that the technology stolen from the Drodian Starstation could be perverted into an even more terrible weapon than the RANDOM device, although this cannot be confirmed since the Drodian officials refuse to divulge exactly what was stolen. Whatever the case, Stiles remains a threat to the security of GalCom, perhaps the galaxy itself. Someday, he will return.

In a moving and private ceremony, Flight Engineer McKendricks body was layed to rest amongst some of the most revered honoured dead in GalCom. The funeral was attended by the entire surviving crew of the Chikuma, Drodian officials and Supreme Commander Karl Reines.

The long and moving speech by both Neena Polovoski and the Supreme Commander concluded with a surprise announcement. In honour of his actions, Supreme Commander Karl Reines announced the commisioning of the brand new GCV ÔÇô McKendrick, assigned to the Orion Fleet and commanded by Neena Polovoski. It seemed to be fitting that the name McKendrick should live on and be remembered as a symbol of hope, duty and honour.

And to this day, it does ..

End Epilogue

THE END

***** Well, there you have it folks. ItÔÇÖs been a helluva ride, and one I have enjoyed enormously. Thanks to all those that participated, and I look forward to doing this again sometime. Your creative input has made this the most exciting and personal BC RP ever written, so you should be proud. Those of you that have requested to use certain characters within this thread in your own storys, please mail me with your details. Oh, and just as a side not, I am going to be writing this up as a proper story some time soon, and itÔÇÖs going to be horribly vast. My own narrative in the story is upwards of 70k words, spanning 160 word document pages, so you can imagine the size of it once IÔÇÖve taken the very best elements from everyone elses contributions and woven it in. Anyway, expect to see it some time June/July.

Anyway, now its all over, any last minute thoughts and comments would make interesting reading. Please feel free to post them on the Preemptive Strike Comments thread.

*****

Close it down Charles, this baby has been put to bed. smile.gif

------------------

F.C KARL 'BLADES' SAVAGE

ORION FLEET

TSUNAMI BATTLE GROUP

GCV - TSUNAMI Ôäó

www.orion-hq.fsnet.co.uk

'For Queen and country'

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