Sigma
Inactive Member
((WIP))
Six admirals from the NSN and four engineers from NAM sat in a room in the NAM Nepleslia Prime HQ. They were about to show off a three dimensional hologram of several test simulations they ran with the production model of the E5 Sword-class Frigate
If the admirals approved, the E5 would go into production as Nepleslia's newest class of escort.
Scenario 1
In the hologram, four of the rectangular, blocky warships appeared in a line formation. The center right one was designated as the squadron leader. All four had been labeled with the generic NE 1-4 with NE 1 as the leader with NE 2 on the left and NE 3 & 4 on the right.
Opposing them were 3 NMX Destroyer Escorts, which were believed to possess similar weaponry and slightly stronger hull armor. On paper, the values were similar, despite the uneven numbers. However, each escort carried a complement of 20 Battlepods capable of harassing the Swords. The hologram recording had been played out by two NSN commanders to reflect Nepleslian and NMX tactics. To ensure fairness, a Drei AI calculated the damage done by each side and the outcomes.
The two sides moved towards each other, looking for a head on fight. NMX battlepods swarmed forwards, looking to score first blood. This prevented the destroyer escorts from unleashing their forward weaponry until after the battlepods had cleared. The Nepleslian flotilla, unhindered by friendly forces, responded by firing their long range weaponry and splitting off into pairs. Missiles and plasma lances streaked through the battlepod swarm, not hitting a single one, towards the destroyer escorts. NE 1 and 2 broke left and up whilst their companions broke right and down.
Almost immediately falling the split, their twin HPV turrets began spitting streams of anti-starfighter rounds. Six then ten then fifteen battlepods winked out of existence on the display. The swift demise of almost a third of the battlepod force caused some nods and murmurs from the assembled admirals. But NMX battlepods retaliated with streams of missiles and lasers. These struck the Nepleslian shields, weakening them some but not significantly. As each group made attack runs, the numerous batteries of HPVs concentrated on them, knocking out more and more.
As the pods died, the Nepleslian volley struck the middle destroyer overwhelming its shields and causing severe damage to its prow. It was, however, still capable of maneuvering and fighting. The NMX ships moved into a triangle formation, with the two unscathed escorts in front and the damaged one in the rear. The battlepods had split, half going after each of the two Nepleslian sub-units.
Now the battlepods were swarming about the Nepleslian ships, the NMX concentrated their fire on NE 1 and 2. Their high powered lasers struck the shields and then their armored hulls. But despite the intensity of the attacks, both Nepleslian ships remained intact albeit with some deep gashes in their sides. Repair crews swiftly began working to seal any breaches and reinforced damaged sections to prevent structural collapse. In earlier testing, it was at this point when prototypes without the extra redundant supports began to suffer from increasingly severe structural damage as multiple hits weakened their frame. The admirals knew this but said nothing. NAM had corrected the mistake as per their expectation. What they wanted to see was whether there was anything surprising in the tests and if the vessel performed according to NAM advertising.
The relatively unmolested NE 3 and 4 turned and angled upwards, pointing at the NMX trio. This move brought their substantial forward armament to bear. NMX battlepods kept attempting to break their shields with desperate strafing runs but the Swords' stronger shields held firm as the HPVs ripped battlepod after battlepod apart.
NE 3 and 4 fired their plasma lance cannons and Curbstomper missiles in unison. The faster plasma lances ripped into the damaged destroyer and it exploded very suddenly. The AI adjudicator had ruled that the NMX ship's power core had overloaded from a hit.
The volley of four Curbstomper missiles slammed into the nearer of the two remaining NMX escorts, collapsing its shields. Both NMX warships ignored the threat from NE 3 and 4, continuing to concentrate fire on NE 1 and 2.
A shift in NMX strategy occurred. Groups of battlepods began suicide runs at the Nepleslian frigates. A lucky few impacted on the ventral island of NE 2, causing massive structural damage and atmospheric venting. The NMX lasers had struck the dorsal island, killing the crew serving those plasma lance cannons. All of the plasma lance cannons of NE 2 were now out of action and a quarter of the crew had died in the attack.
NE 1 suffered similarly. Its Curbstomper missile launchers had been damaged by an exploding battlepod and its engineering section had suffered casualties from NMX laser strikes.
The second pair of frigates remained relatively intact, though with severely depleted shields. They had continued firing at the nearer of the two NMX destroyers. Their firepower ripped into unshielded destroyer and it went dark. The Drei AI ruled that it was dead hulk, though some survivors were likely present.
NE 1 and 2 made their turns and commenced their attack runs on the last destroyer, their HPVs still valiantly blasting at the ever present swarm of battlepods. Despite their best efforts, the destroyer's shield repelled all of their attacks whilst NE 2 continued to suffer as the NMX lasers tore out more chunks of its armor and hull. Drei ruled that NE 2 was effectively a dead hulk.
NE 3 and 4 raced to end the conflict, firing as fast their weapons would allow while NE 1 presented its broadside to allow the port HPVs to fire a broadside at the destroyer. The shields collapsed and the destroyer died under the Nepleslian attacks. In exchange, NE 1 was judged to be fit for the scrapyard, though it was still barely operational.
The remaining NMX battlepods died soon after as NE 3 and 4 covered their damaged squadron leader.
---------------------
The lights came on to allow the admirals to talk and discuss. It had been a good fight but the effective loss of two ships for three NMX ships was not a very favorable result. The Swords, they agreed performed well to destroy the battlepods with their impressive set of HPVs but they were distinctly lacking in comparable anti-starship capability.
The NAM engineers agreed that the Sword's primary role was anti-starfighter and that the anti-starship weaponry was meant to be complemented by larger, tougher vessels' own or used in larger groups to overwhelm smaller ones. The Swords were not meant to go toe-to-toe with their NMX equivalents, though they had the ability to if they had numerical advantage and a better tactical philosophy. The NMX commander, the engineers said, had deliberately played them slightly below par to emphasize that as helpful as tactics were, the three NMX warships could have been much more deadly if wielded expertly.
The group prepared for the next scenario.
Six admirals from the NSN and four engineers from NAM sat in a room in the NAM Nepleslia Prime HQ. They were about to show off a three dimensional hologram of several test simulations they ran with the production model of the E5 Sword-class Frigate
If the admirals approved, the E5 would go into production as Nepleslia's newest class of escort.
Scenario 1
In the hologram, four of the rectangular, blocky warships appeared in a line formation. The center right one was designated as the squadron leader. All four had been labeled with the generic NE 1-4 with NE 1 as the leader with NE 2 on the left and NE 3 & 4 on the right.
Opposing them were 3 NMX Destroyer Escorts, which were believed to possess similar weaponry and slightly stronger hull armor. On paper, the values were similar, despite the uneven numbers. However, each escort carried a complement of 20 Battlepods capable of harassing the Swords. The hologram recording had been played out by two NSN commanders to reflect Nepleslian and NMX tactics. To ensure fairness, a Drei AI calculated the damage done by each side and the outcomes.
The two sides moved towards each other, looking for a head on fight. NMX battlepods swarmed forwards, looking to score first blood. This prevented the destroyer escorts from unleashing their forward weaponry until after the battlepods had cleared. The Nepleslian flotilla, unhindered by friendly forces, responded by firing their long range weaponry and splitting off into pairs. Missiles and plasma lances streaked through the battlepod swarm, not hitting a single one, towards the destroyer escorts. NE 1 and 2 broke left and up whilst their companions broke right and down.
Almost immediately falling the split, their twin HPV turrets began spitting streams of anti-starfighter rounds. Six then ten then fifteen battlepods winked out of existence on the display. The swift demise of almost a third of the battlepod force caused some nods and murmurs from the assembled admirals. But NMX battlepods retaliated with streams of missiles and lasers. These struck the Nepleslian shields, weakening them some but not significantly. As each group made attack runs, the numerous batteries of HPVs concentrated on them, knocking out more and more.
As the pods died, the Nepleslian volley struck the middle destroyer overwhelming its shields and causing severe damage to its prow. It was, however, still capable of maneuvering and fighting. The NMX ships moved into a triangle formation, with the two unscathed escorts in front and the damaged one in the rear. The battlepods had split, half going after each of the two Nepleslian sub-units.
Now the battlepods were swarming about the Nepleslian ships, the NMX concentrated their fire on NE 1 and 2. Their high powered lasers struck the shields and then their armored hulls. But despite the intensity of the attacks, both Nepleslian ships remained intact albeit with some deep gashes in their sides. Repair crews swiftly began working to seal any breaches and reinforced damaged sections to prevent structural collapse. In earlier testing, it was at this point when prototypes without the extra redundant supports began to suffer from increasingly severe structural damage as multiple hits weakened their frame. The admirals knew this but said nothing. NAM had corrected the mistake as per their expectation. What they wanted to see was whether there was anything surprising in the tests and if the vessel performed according to NAM advertising.
The relatively unmolested NE 3 and 4 turned and angled upwards, pointing at the NMX trio. This move brought their substantial forward armament to bear. NMX battlepods kept attempting to break their shields with desperate strafing runs but the Swords' stronger shields held firm as the HPVs ripped battlepod after battlepod apart.
NE 3 and 4 fired their plasma lance cannons and Curbstomper missiles in unison. The faster plasma lances ripped into the damaged destroyer and it exploded very suddenly. The AI adjudicator had ruled that the NMX ship's power core had overloaded from a hit.
The volley of four Curbstomper missiles slammed into the nearer of the two remaining NMX escorts, collapsing its shields. Both NMX warships ignored the threat from NE 3 and 4, continuing to concentrate fire on NE 1 and 2.
A shift in NMX strategy occurred. Groups of battlepods began suicide runs at the Nepleslian frigates. A lucky few impacted on the ventral island of NE 2, causing massive structural damage and atmospheric venting. The NMX lasers had struck the dorsal island, killing the crew serving those plasma lance cannons. All of the plasma lance cannons of NE 2 were now out of action and a quarter of the crew had died in the attack.
NE 1 suffered similarly. Its Curbstomper missile launchers had been damaged by an exploding battlepod and its engineering section had suffered casualties from NMX laser strikes.
The second pair of frigates remained relatively intact, though with severely depleted shields. They had continued firing at the nearer of the two NMX destroyers. Their firepower ripped into unshielded destroyer and it went dark. The Drei AI ruled that it was dead hulk, though some survivors were likely present.
NE 1 and 2 made their turns and commenced their attack runs on the last destroyer, their HPVs still valiantly blasting at the ever present swarm of battlepods. Despite their best efforts, the destroyer's shield repelled all of their attacks whilst NE 2 continued to suffer as the NMX lasers tore out more chunks of its armor and hull. Drei ruled that NE 2 was effectively a dead hulk.
NE 3 and 4 raced to end the conflict, firing as fast their weapons would allow while NE 1 presented its broadside to allow the port HPVs to fire a broadside at the destroyer. The shields collapsed and the destroyer died under the Nepleslian attacks. In exchange, NE 1 was judged to be fit for the scrapyard, though it was still barely operational.
The remaining NMX battlepods died soon after as NE 3 and 4 covered their damaged squadron leader.
---------------------
The lights came on to allow the admirals to talk and discuss. It had been a good fight but the effective loss of two ships for three NMX ships was not a very favorable result. The Swords, they agreed performed well to destroy the battlepods with their impressive set of HPVs but they were distinctly lacking in comparable anti-starship capability.
The NAM engineers agreed that the Sword's primary role was anti-starfighter and that the anti-starship weaponry was meant to be complemented by larger, tougher vessels' own or used in larger groups to overwhelm smaller ones. The Swords were not meant to go toe-to-toe with their NMX equivalents, though they had the ability to if they had numerical advantage and a better tactical philosophy. The NMX commander, the engineers said, had deliberately played them slightly below par to emphasize that as helpful as tactics were, the three NMX warships could have been much more deadly if wielded expertly.
The group prepared for the next scenario.