RP [Battlegroup Warden] Mission 1: The Battle for Trinity

[Gunhand4171]

RP Date

46.5

RP Location

Armageddon Sector: Trinity System

After several weeks of transit, the ships of Battlegroup Warden were making their final FTL jump. Across all vessels, a shock clock was prominently displayed on their main view screens, counting down to when they would all arrive. Aboard the NSS Spirit, Captain Braun sat in her command chair while the Rear Admiral monitored things from the Combat Information Center (CIC). Typically, the XO would be responsible for the CIC. However, Valentine wanted to keep his eye on the big picture. Braun was the CO of the Spirit now, so he'd let her run the ship. All around the vessel, the ship's lights were set to give off a yellow glow. The ship was in Condition 2, which meant there were no enemies in their vicinity, but an attack was possible. This meant the crew of the Spirit was ready to spring into action at a moment's notice. As the clock counted down to zero, everyone held their breath as they exited FTL.

Warden exited FTL at the very edge of the Trinity System. "Sensors, passive scans only. What do you have?" Captain Braun asked. The sensors operator scanned his console and shook his head. "I have nothing on scope, Captain." Valentine looked up to Braun and nodded, silently giving her the go-ahead to continue with the plan. Braun returned the nod. "CAG (Commander of the Air Group), launch the ready five fighters. Proceed further into the system and find us some targets." She ordered. "Aye aye, Captain." The CAG replied. Soon after, a squadron of Scythe Stealth Fighter launched from the Spirit and flew further into the system.

Several hours later:

Valentine and Braun stood in the CO's ready room, where the command teams of Warden's ships were displayed on the room's screen. "Here's what our recon team was able to find," Valentine began. The display screen on each ship changed to show an updated system map. Each planet was designated P 1-6. P1 was the arid world, and P2 was the atoll world. P3 through P6 were the system's gas giants. Around P2 was a cluster of four ships, designated H1-4. "The NMX must have not expected anyone to make the trek out here. They sent second-generation ships to claim this system. H1 is a Pillager light cruiser, and H2 through 4 are escort destroyers. They appear to have a ground presence on P2; we didn't risk trying to get close enough for exact troop compositions on the surface." The Rear Admiral explained. "So, here's the plan. The Invictus and Hold My Beer are to target the light cruiser. Knock the big boy out for us. The Battle of Nexim Arsenal will move in behind the formation with the Spirit's Banshee Squadron to attack H2. They will be using Scythes so they can follow you in quietly." Braun looked to Hector and crossed her arms. "Take good care of them, Captain Pontius." Valentine cleared his throat before continuing. "The Immortal She, Sagacity, Surprise, and Rafaela will take on H3 and H4. The Spirit will provide fighter support and provide support if anyone starts having trouble. Once we clear the orbitals, we will send in the marines to clear the NMX off the planet. Any question regarding the plan?" Valentine asked, opening the floor for the COs to voice their questions or concerns with the plan.

 

[Cowboy]

NSS Surprise
The anticipation on the ship was growing. You could feel it. And the closer the battle group got to the Armageddon sector the more tangible it became. The Surprise had passed the time running drills and simulations, at least as much as they could. The ship was filled to the brim with extra supplies for a long cruse to the point that even some of the hallways and quarters were filled with boxes. The Surprise wasn't that big a ship either. At less than 200 meters, she wasn't roomy like a cruiser or some of the larger destroyers. She also carried an additional 2 squads of Marines. A Longsword Frigate would typically carry only 2 squads of Marines. The Surprise carried 4 as a matter of course. The Surprise loved boarding enemy ships and taking them as a prize. Hence the extra Marine squads.

When the battle group finally arrived in the Armageddon system the Surprise was ready to go. Jack stood behind the navigation, watching the ships progress and where the other ships were. Quite a nice little battle group. Time to see how well they would work together. Like all career officers, Jack longed to raise his own pennant and become an Admiral someday it wasn't an easy job. An Admiral had to deal with Captains who were God Almighty aboard their own ships. Time would tell how well Valentine would lead.

Jack was called away from his musings by the Admiral himself. Seemed like it was time to inform the squatters that this new owners were here. The Surprise would be tasked with taking on two Escorts along with the The Immortal She, Sagacity and Rafaela. Doable. When the Rear Admiral asked for questions Jack asked, "Do you want us to try to take any prizes? Or try to capture any enemy officers? We might get lucky and get some valuable intel if you think it is worth a try."

 

[Nameless]

NSS Sagacity

Aliasse's eyes danced on the screens showing the new intel they received from recon. It was a blessing that the battlegroup they ran into was a small one, but the fact remained that a force was present very early on in the expedition. Was it a scouting party, or were they there to establish an outpost? She couldn't help but wonder, but either way, they'll find out soon enough. Once the ships are taken care of, she imagined that it won't be long until they go planet side. She communicated directly to the armory as the meeting was taking place, taking great care that she wasn't transmitting to the other ships. "Rodriguez, imminent engagement. You know what to do."

The image of a short-haired brunette blipped off from Aliasse's screen as the order was silently acknowledged, replaced by a close-up of the enemy escort crafts, not just the ones they had just received, but also ones pulled from the intel files the army already had, and from less official channels from the savvier members of her crew. The battlepods those escorts were carrying were going to be an issue if they're allowed to deploy. Assuming they're all on alert, there was a tiny window before they take flight.

She would wait until the Admiral responded to the first question before she'd put forth her own. "Do we have a path where we able to sneak up behind their formation safely and without being detected? If so, we can prioritize hitting the escorts' rear launch bays in our opening salvo. If we can't jam the opening mechanism, we will at least be shooting into the softer interior, and likely take out strike crafts before they have the chance to engage with our Scythes."

 

[Damaske]

NSS Rafaela

With every spare meter of the 120-meter craft filled to the millimeter with supplies, the Rafaela moves along with the rest of the fleet near the Surprize in a slight lag position. Its Third Eye, subspace, and tachyon scanning systems watch the surrounding space like a big brother. Each of the four heavy pulse laser Vulcan turrets scans the space around the fleet for any fighters that may discover them. The crew was standing down from a drill defending the fleet from a fighter swarm attack, the launcher systems on standby to clear the drill data from them and back to live data. Instead of the normal 50 crew, there were another 25 marines onboard the Rafaela to help serve as boarding crew, or on standby to transfer to another craft for planetfall. Stretching the already limited space onboard to its limits.

Getting his assigned orders for the attack, Martin grins and then radios over to the NSS Surprize wanting to speak with the Captian. To go over the plans of the engagement, And let him know that they were heavy on marines for possible boarding operation as he has boarding torpedos onboard. Martin was thinking of hanging back a little to unleash his Torpedo payload in a massive opening volley targeting one of the escorts to take it out before any battlepods could be launched. Then moving up to provide Anti-fighter defense while the others hammered the destroyers, firing off his Curbstomber and Suplex cruise missiles as they reloaded.

 

[Charmaylarg Dufrain]

FTL

With a pre-emptive call of Commander on deck! the bridge crew came to alert as Miska stalked onto the bridge, thermos of coffee in hand as he waved his bridge crew down and strode towards the captains seat to which his executive loomed too large to take it up himself.

"I have the bridge." Miska intoned almost as an afterthought for which Ajax Vanderhuge did the same with a same-sense response of "The bridge is yours, Skipper." Looking about contentedly and taking a sip of the still steaming hot black coffee Miska trained his cybernetic eyes about taking stock of his bridge crew before crossing one leg onto the other and resting his free hand against his cheek.

"Report Mr.Vanderhuge." He intoned, passively reading a display on his captains console.

"Conn has us at six light minutes out from dead-drop. All gunnery stations are primed and shields are set. We should be third out of the line on systems edge." Her executive reported with a clip, causing his captains lips to pull ever so slightly into a smirk.

"Have Lieutenants Fisk and Dubois on standby for sortie until the flagship comes about and we call formation." Miska ordered lazily as the bridge clock began ticking down towards zero. When it finally hit to within a single light minute he popped his back, straightend up, secured his belt to his chair, and made the order to general quarters.

Trinity System

It's a big if that planet is habitable. Miskas intel liaison answered his question as the other captains conversed, the hazy outline of the planet displayed on a holographic projection in the bridge getting more of the captains attention than anything. "Terraforming is time-consuming and costly but even in the boonies like this that rock will have the NYRDs here frothing at the mouth within a year as soon as someone stumbles on the report." Operator Carson grinned, a very unsettling sight of the gaunt mans disposition as Miskas mind worked.

"If its habitable that means there's a chance of life. Life means biomass." Ajax offered. "Biomass means they can grow their ships faster and feed their cats better." He followed up.

"That last one was disproven." The operator claimed causing Miska to click his teeth to silence them as he daned to rejoin the captains conference.

"The cruiser is concerning but a negligible issue with the Arsenal and Invictus present in system and the Spirits fighter compliment making its longevity questionable." Miska found an opening between the captain of the Suprise' statement though Miska considered the want of renown for a Prize to be at the top of his list he could see from the corner of his eyes the sour look on his Marine contingent leaders face at the prospect and was of the same state of mind.

If the cards fell and they managed a lucky crippling of one vessel it would be hard and bloody fighting to take the ship and the renown of Miskas men were not worth their lives. Instead he would be happy with one of the vessels, preferably the cruiser but unlikely in the treatment it would soon get, was in at least large enough pieces to send over teams and assess any information they might scrounge up locally from if the AI, cores, and local systems were not overtly destroyed and could be decrypted later.

"With all due respect to Captain Canterburys proposal, however," He followed up, stressing the word however to make it clear it was more out of the need for caution than apprehension, "Is that this is not all that the NMX have committed to this system. One or more frigates outsystem on patrol, scouting corvettes, or pasco-forbid a stealth vessel we have yet to identify and we risk being caught on the back foot." Following up on that Miska made it very clear that while he was urging caution it was not for the sake of delay as he bared his teeth in a way that was almost comical with his young feminine features and pulsing eyes,

"We need to strike fast. But divert resources to scouting out any such vessels; If a stealth vessel or any others survive they can threaten our rear-line support while we are committed, or lead future reinforcements right ontop of us. The planetside forces will be stranded without orbital support after all."

 

[Gunhand4171]

NSS Spirit

Valentine nodded at the COs as they had all put forward good questions. First, he addressed Jack and the Surprise's question. "If the opportunity presents itself, I'll allow it. However, it can't unnecessarily jeopardize the operation or the lives of the battlegroup. Only board if we have crippled the vessel and have the time to spare." Next, he turned to address Aliasse and the Sagacity. "It will be hard for those without stealth systems to get close enough to launch a surprise attack. The Spirit will have its interceptors out and ready to play with the battle pods when they make an appearance." Finally, he turned to Miska and the Immortal She. "We are in agreement, commander. This is our first real engagement as a Battlegroup, and we must be cautious. However, we will have the advantage if we are fast and can get the drop on the NMX. The Spirit will remain in stealth and play goalie. If any ship enters the system or if anyone ends up in trouble, we will intercede. Now, if there are no other questions, we have some ships to blot out of space. We will commence the attack in t-minus 30 minutes. Let's show the squids that Trinity is Warden territory now ." Valentine added, a mischievous smirk playing across his lips as the channel disconnected. He turned to Captain Braun, who nodded and tapped a button on her desk. As she did, the ship alarms began to blare. "General quarters, general quarters, all hands man your battle stations. Set condition one throughout the ship. This is not a drill." The automated message repeated several more times as the Spirt prepared for battle.

30 minutes later:

"All vessels report ready, Rear Admiral." The comms officer reported. Valentine nodded. "Good. All ships commence the attack." He ordered. Braun took that as her cue and began barking orders. "CAG: assign a squadron to shadow each vessel. When the battle pods come out, hammer them before they can hit the fleet. Tactical: I want firing solutions on H1 through 4. If the need arises, I better see every missile tube firing. Sensors: keep an eye out for any incoming vessels. If a squid vessel so much as farts near this system, I want to hear about it." "Aye, aye!" Each officer responded.

Out in the black, fighters formed up on each vessel and followed them in. Banshee flight formed up on the Battle of Nexim Arsenal and radioed in. "Battle, this is Banshee 1. We are ready to go hunting." The flight lead for Banshee reported.

As the Nepleslian ships began their approach, the NMX vessels sat in space above the planet. They haven't noticed the battlegroup... yet.

 

[Nameless]

With the meeting adjourned, Aliasse sent out a message to her ships inhabitants. "This is it, ladies and gentlemen, first combat we're seeing in this new battlegroup. As always, stay alert and aware of not only our enemies but our new friends as well. Especially our strike crafts. Marines, be ready for boarding. We're not aiming to hop ships since we'll be dropping into the planet after orbital engagement, but if we're ordered to, I want you out in less than a minute. Gunners, I want nothing less than ninety-five percent accuracy on the first ten seconds of engagement. Center mass on H3. Cut that ship in half if you can. After that grace period, aim to disable their guns. Everyone to their stations!"

The bridge was tense as the systems were checked for any faults. Things were running perfectly fine, but the majority of this crew knew that things could shift at the most inopportune times, but as the time ticked down, this ship held firm.

"Target in range," came the gunners' report. "Awaiting signal."

Aliasse, eyes glued to the screen mirroring her gunners' point of view, nodded to herself as the engagement officially went underway. "Weapons free."

Fifteen pulses a second.

Twelve barrels total.

All aimed at one central spot.

 

[Charmaylarg Dufrain]

NSS Immortal She

Gravity increased by .3g and lights flashed momentarily from a bright white to a warning yellow as the call of "Hall hands, General quarters!" Sounded in a dull monotone as the Longsword Frigates ACE-AI, named Raven intoned in a young mans voice but without emotion or inflection the ship-wide order as sailors made way for the Hostile-armored marines trampling down the hall to their deployment points and EVA suits were dawned in critical sections as the Immortal She began a full-burn with enough force that the increase in gravity opposite to counteract the G-forces kept all feet on the deck at least as, in the bridge, the doors long since sealed as the bridge crew buckled into their stations and two Hostile-armored marines took positions outside the doors with weapons at the ready.

"Thirty seconds to flammel!" The helmsman called out as the ship started to purposefully let off its forward thrust to let the ships continued and unhindered momentum carry it forwards and avoid any noticeable thurst-plume as it did so like a million tonnes of Durrandium and Nermimum spearshaft plumetting through the void.

"Distance achieved; 9,700km and growing from formation." The helmsman echoed the sensor tech who follow up with a report of the Mass Meshers ready state and the ACE, Raven, manifesting via a holo-projection to affirm that Black Veil suites ready status.

"Curbstomper Tubes one and two are primed and ready!" Weapons announced.

"Lieutenants Fisk and Dubois report their Saber fighter craft will be ready to deploy within five minutes!" The bridge talker announced after that, "We have ACE-to-ACE with the Spritis FOMO and ready to coordinate air assets if deployed."

"Captain Mercer has two teams suited and ready for deployment, all other Marine teams are at damage control or prepped for anti-boarding operations, Captain!"

Miska jostled slightly in his seat as the reports started coming in, his own interface and screens giving all the same information as it became available as the holo-display began to take shape. The She was behind and close to 10,000km offsides of the faster Sagacity. With the outlines of H3 and H4 coming into range moments later the immortal moment of the start of the battle started as seconds felt like an eternity.

"Sagacity is opening up!" The fleet talker announced as the weapons team swung in their seats to look at the executive officer for confirmation.

"Activate the Black Veil and surge up the Mass Mesher!" Ajax ordered, well accustomed to the drill as the ship practically ceased to exist as its electronic and counter warfare suites hit the two underclassed destroyers with the subtle force of a truck as sensors and action-suites were jammed or scrambled and what did get through was unreliable as the infamous Mass Mesher scrambled and attempt to differentiate signals as anything from a Primus battleship to an entire fleet flickered on the sensors of every non-nepleslian ship in the system telling them only that there was an enemy but not what or where it was.

"Fire tubes one and two." Miska ordered as the weapons station acted and with the vibration of the tubes loosing two Curbstomper torpedoes raced ahead at a fraction of the speed of light and were gone and only recorded as just two illuminated yellow '+' on the holographic display.

"We will stay hidden until within 250,000-kilomiters." Miska ordered, putting the vessel practically within knife-fighting range of he closest vessel, H4. Looking at his display that would put the 'She' within that range just minutes after the Curbstompers reached intercept range. It meant Sagacity would be the entire focus for a matter of minutes as a result but if they timed the maneuver right by the time the 'She' opened up with her lances and antimatter blasters it would be a hammer blow on whichever the vessels they targeted depending on if the curbstompers were intercepted before reaching H4 or not.

"T-minus eight minutes and counting until mark!" The helmsman announced as Miska casually sipped from his coffee.

 

[Soban]

Lysander sat comfortably in the captain's chair. He had the chair modified so that he fit properly in it. As a side effect, anyone else who sat in his chair looked small by comparison. He sat quietly, but attentive to what was happening on the bridge as various officers did their work of keeping the ship running and ready to go. There was a slight tension in the air from being at general quarters. Three large screens a the front of the Bridge showed the tactical situation, what was outside of them, and the ship's status. The tactical display showed an intercept course for the Light Cruiser. "Helm, Full ahead. Put a timer to maximum range. Weapons, at that point, launch missles. As we reach closer engagement ranges, I want all guns blazing. We want them to be paying attention to us. Hold My Beer can dish it out as well as we can, but she's a smaller ship so can't take it as well. The more the enemy is paying attention to our thunder run, the less they will be paying to the other ships in the squadron." He explained their part of the battleplan.