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RP: Freespacers The Prince of Privateers

Strangelove

Strangelove

Inactive Member
(( The prelude can be found here ))

High orbit over planet Vedder
Kennewes System

The sparking Conquest battleship's bridge was flooded with light as the warship cleared Vedder's Terminator. Captain Veres Adler sat in his custom reclining chair, rubbing his temple as the ship slowly floated over the planet.

"Sir, our escort is beginning its swapping maneuvers now," called out his one of his bridge hands, his eyes more on his magazine than his sensor read-outs non-withstanding. "Stupid lazy bast-hads," grunted Adler, irritated at the fact his escorting ships had crews too lazy to stay airborne overnight.

Outside the semi-comfortable confines of the warship, the two Vampires that had been flying abreast the much larger battleship began to dive towards the planets atmosphere, followed closely by three Oberon escorts that had been accompanying it. To replace them came five Bellystabber-class ships, along with an extra five Oberon vessels.

"Cadet... uh... Cadet-man on the Comm unit, shoot off a message to that supply fleet, ask them why their ships are straying way off too-wards ta mown."

"Aye, Captain Adler," replied the communications officer, and spent several moments typing out a two-sentence notification advising the straying ships to "GTFBH", a message that was not understood in any capacity by the supply ships captain, who quickly replied with nothing more than a message of "fuck you", which was promptly ignored by the communications officer.
 
Debris belt near planet Vedder
Kennewes System

Hassan simply sat staring out of the cockpit of the Phantasm Gunboat as if his eyes were frozen to the glass. The helmet and the flight suit made it difficult to tell if he was alive, or even conscious at all, though in actuality his neural interface was busy at work organizing the raid to strike.

'This must be the convoy the Nepleslians marked as a target. They seem fairly well armed, but the salvage should be pretty lucrative if we can pull this off right...' Hassan promptly shook himself from his musings. "But now is not the time for idle thoughts. Operational artist, give me a sitrep."

A young girl, no more than perhaps ten years old, crackled over the speaker, "Situation report as follows: Artillery batteries are up, and ECM emitters are in place. Drones and support squadrons are in place as well. Green light for op, chief. Ready on your call."

"Op time is now." Hassan quickly changed the channel and broadcast to the other ships. "Come, brothers and sisters, today is the day we make a name for ourselves. Today we show the galaxy how elite we are, and begin an age wherein thousands will curse our name in spite and envy. We will show those disorganized dirtdwellers how real pirates operate!"

Laughter and cheers broke out among the pilots as the broke their anchors from the asteroids, and began drifting towards the convoy.
 
The beeps from the Conquest's comm station finally grew so frequent and annoying it prompted Adler to throw something of a screaming fit until his young bridge officer finally answered the call. "Sir, this RNSS Viscous, looks like you got some debris or somethin' comin' in from those Asteroids over yonder. You might want them checked out?"

"Yah damn right. I swawah, if it's your bloody sensors shortin' again, I'm putting the whip to that damn slackah of a tech of yours," Veres replied. The commander of the Vampire class slowly sinking into the atmosphere gave a shrug, and closed the line. "Get some of those Oberons o'er there, highest STL speed." Four Oberons obliged, rocketing towards the asteroid field at high speed.
 
"Incoming enemy units. Looks like they don't have a confirmation yet. They're not arming yet." The operational Artist squeaked over the radio.

"And the cruise missiles?" Hassan frowned beneath his helmet.

"Fueled and EMP-nukes armed! Ready when you are!" The Artist cried out excitedly.

"Go." Hassan nodded to no one in particular.

"Ruining their day as per your orders!" The Artist's childish laughter could be heard over the radio before it fell silent.

Among the debris came several free-floating missiles sprung to life. It was clear these were merely wreckage as they followed highly erratic flight paths as they flew towards the approaching ships and their convoy. As the missiles passed the Phantasms, they too similarly sprung to life and began closing in at rapid velocities, their turrets training on the closest patrol craft.
 
"Cap'n, we got somethin' incomin'!" The lead Oberon transports leader looked through his scanner at the objects headed towards them. A reply crackled through the comm a moment later.

"Well shit, you boys'ah always shoutin' bout how much you wanna shoot some Greens, right? Well, here's some things comin' in, and they sure as 'ell ain't ahz. Blast 'em."

The Oberon's leader whistled and grinned. "Yessah." He transmitted instructions to fire the ships around them. The Particle Accelerator cannons on the vessels sprung to life and directed their barrels to the various pieces of machinery rapidly coming closer.
 
As the first few shots began firing the Phantasm formation broke apart. Ships scattered every which way and began to return fire with their own Red Mercury Blasters and Starjammers. Like their formation (or therefore lack of) their comm. bantering could be heard falling into a similar state of disarray...

"All units be advised: Hostile energy weapons being deployed against friendly forces. Grid 35298, vector 7338..."

"Alright boys girls, inject your stim cocktails and keep your eyes on the reds."

"Watch it your fatass, Nine Three. You nearly clipped my tail!"

"What's that sound? Is there a coolant leak back there! Damn it, don't make me turn this ship around...!"
 
One of the Oberons took several hits, and fire blossomed from its starboard side for a moment before depressurization pushed the fire, the air, and several charred crew men out to the abyss.

"Holy fucking shit sir, we got fire! I repeat! We got fire! Mizz-aisles online!" The launchers on the lead Oberon flared to life, sending several dozen missiles towards the four lead Rover space ships. "The fuck are these things?!"
 
The cruise missiles quickly skimmed over the Oberon-class craft in an incoherent dance of swerves and spirals-- all except the last one. This missile swerved in between the ships and seemed to simply stall there, as if it had hit an invisible wall of resistance.

The SI construct guiding the weapon stopped and took a moment to broadcast on the channels of both sides of the conflict, in a shrill high pitched voice, "Watch this!" before it detonated and engulfed the craft in a searing EMP burst.

The Phantasms mostly steered clear of the blast, though a few more wild ones were singed quite badly due to proximity. Those not disabled by the blast simply continued slicing away blindly into the blast, their beams of light slicing through it with little purpose or aim.
 
"Shit! Sir, we got missiles or somethin' incomin-" The comm shut off as one of the Oberon vessels was engulfed in fire, destroying its comm arrays and much of its port hull. Back on the Conquest-class, Adler was alerted to the fighting by a communications ping.

"Sir, we gots two ships damaged. These... ah, whuteva they ahh ah puttin' up a hell of a fight. Lots of 'em, too. I think you might have some bogies incomin', too." The CO of the lead Oberon turned to his bridge crew. "GODDAMN IT, SHOOT MORE GUNS!" They complied willingly.

"Damnit. Cadet, recall those Vampires. We got an enemy force out in them asteroids. Have those Oberons head over, but get the Vampires to get to the other side ah the planet 'fore they start thinkin' bout engagin'. Also, get some fire on those missiles from our batteries, will ya?"

"Aye, sir," replied the Cadet, now actually concentrating on his job as conflict erupted. Below them on the planet, the Oberon vessels that had been headed towards the compound on the ground quickly jerked upwards and rocketed towards the fight. They also targeted and fired large amounts of ammunition into the missiles on their way.
 
Unfortunately, the fixed guns of the Oberons combined with their larger size made their attacks quite ineffective against the much more agile Phantasm gunships. Both the gunship pilots and the cruise missile guidance SI took care to dodge their enemies attacks, while turret gunners continued to put pressure on their defenses. Mean while the cruise missiles whirled and weaved towards the main convoy without missing a beat.
 
Suddenly, the Conquest Class' Type-A turrets whirred to life. Five of them quickly targeted the missiles, put a hearty lead on them, and opened fire with several bursts. Meanwhile, the Vampires had already covered about half the globe, and were prepared to complete a slingshot into the Mercenary battle line. The Oberon vessels that had been accompanying them, however, were already within range of the line. The launchers dotting their hulls opened and unleashed several volleys of missiles, introducing close to 20 missiles per gunship to the fray. As the missiles continued their erratic flight, the convoy of supply vessels began to drip towards the world, engaging thrusters to bring them closer to the atmosphere.
 
All units be advised; I'm tracking incoming angels!" The girl squeaked regarding the missiles. "Prep your active defenses and maneuver accordingly!"

"Angel alert. Bringing Warding Rune turrets online. Tracking and disseminating target data." Hassan spoke calmly as his neural interface was busily transmitting the missile data to the other gunships. "Continue assault. Remember that unsatisfactory crews will be labeled as Lamers and consequently will not receive post-mission rescue. The Prince is out."

The four turrets on each gunship sprung to life as the missile approached. The twin autocannons spun to life and begun spewing out 20mm rounds with the sole purpose of shredding any missiles they could successfully hit. The Phantasms weaved closely together to concentrate fire, but a number of missiles still managed to blossom against the occasional gunships' shields.
 
As the Vampires completed their circuit of Vedder, made sure the missiles their comrades had fired had thinned out, and then engaged their Point-to-Point drives, putting them directly above the skirmish area, facing down. With that, they aimed and targeted the groups of gunships, and fired their massive blasts, and focusing their secondary weapons on what their anti-plasma would miss.
 
"Watch out!" The tactical officer cried. "Incoming from topside! Begin radical displacement procedures!"

The Vampire blasts scored a direct hit on a number of the vessels, thereby promptly taking them out of the battle. However, fortunately for the Phantasm squadrons their Inertialess Drives allowed them to rapidly begin scattering upon the detection of the Vampires. By activating their energy sails they simply rode the edges of the blast outward and scattered not unlike leaves to the wind.

"Unacceptable!" Hassan snapped at both the fallen pilots and to those that remained." Give them an Inappropriate Response for their behavior. Remaining units close to point range. Do not allow them the opportunity to attack again; use their own vessels as shields from one another, and use our agility to the advantage."

Several Phantasms released one of their own cruise missiles which promptly streaked towards the Vampires. The remaining squadrons split apart and began closing in on all directions towards both the Vampires and the Oberons.
 
The Vampires, not liking the thought of a missile hit, quickly engaged their Point-to-Point drives, quickly transporting them away from the conflict, and to the far side of the moon, leaving the missiles to continue upwards to an empty sky. Meanwhile, the Oberons once again focused their heavy accelerator cannons on the enemy ships, and allowed another missile salvo to rush towards them as well.
 
"Too slow!" Hassan laughed as the Phantasms as he lead the other Phantasms in among the Oberons. A few more gunships fell among the reckless charge, but concentrated counter fire and high speed maneuvering allowed the rest of the vessels to make their way in among the vessels and begin wreaking them with turret blasts at point blank range. Meanwhile, the cruise missiles that had lost their target began homing in on the Oberons and joining the fray.
 
The Oberon class ships, sensing that they were in for something of a licking as the turrets put even more tax on their already damaged hulls, hit their thrusters into maximum, plowing forward, even as lasers and other implements shredded more and more plating off. One of the ships took a cruise missile, lighting up in a massive display of short-lived fire before quickly smoldering away. However, even with this, they still pushed on into the debris pile, switching to missile weapons to avoid hitting one another with their own ordnance.
 
"They're boxed in, Princey! Finish 'em off!" The tactical officer chimed in. "They won't have much room to move between the debris, so make good use of your own agility."

"Hey, don't tell me what to do like I'm some kind of lamer newbie!" One of the male pilots snapped at her.

"...Sorry, Three Eight. Just try not to dawdle too long. Those other cruise missiles are stalking the main convoy waiting for you to reinforce."

"Affirmed, TacOps. Press the attack. They're breaking now." The Phantasms continued weaving about the debris field, while slowly but surely gnawing away at the heels of the Oberon force.
 
The Oberon fleet, now caught in something of a dire straight as they were quickly confined between heavy enemy fire and a wall of debris, quickly reacted by falling into disarray and panic. Several escape pods were jettisoned into space, several of whom were mostly filled with high explosives and sent back towards the enemy marauders to act as mines. One of the vessels impacted a particularly large piece of rock, which sheered away a long stretch of hull from its starboard side.
 
"Let's end this lameness," Hassan said. "Units Zero-Two-One and Zero-Two-Two, arm Pseudonovae and fire on proximity detonation and clear a path. Remaining Zero-Two wing units fire second missile barrage immediately upon the first detonations. We'll take advantage of the blinding EMP burst effects to get in close, and kick them right where it hurts before they see it coming. Units confirm commands."

"Command confirmed, chief." Two missiles left the attack group and streaked towards their the debris and escape pods.
 
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