The Battle of Scale Plate Green

[VioletRapture]

It was an ordinary day in the ordinary sector of Scale Plate Green in the ordinary Teladi Company's range of influence.

The day was soon to be extraordinary, though.

A Teladi Company Security patrol captain was making his rounds through space, when a massive jump portal opened before his eyes. What emerged could strike fear into even the most profit-hardy Teladi.

It was a massive Kha'ak raiding party. Ten destroyers and hundreds of clusters followed by something even larger - an M0? No. Not large enough. But it was bloody massive, and Kha'ak fighters were literally swarming around it.

The captain had no more time to marvel at the sight, however, for his entire patrol team was vaporized by a Kyon laser.

Two Phoenixes with a compliment of ten Falcons and various mercenaries from other races, in a response to the distress call by the Teladi trading dock, warped through the north gate, and began converging on the Kha'ak fleet. Kyon lasers ripped through the hulls of the fighters, and even left an impressive mark of the Phoenixes. They returned fire with a hailstorm of pulse bolts, and the Kha'ak destroyers strafed to avoid the fire.

Their course remained intact, they were heading for the largest of the stations, the Trading Dock itself.

More ships warped through the gates now, various fighters and carrier fleets from the Argon and Boron. They were met with even more Kha'ak capital ships and a second battleship, which they engaged.

Swarms of fighters duked it out in the space between the capital ships, Kyon lasers killing Kha'ak and man alike. One Kha'ak destroyer erupted in a brilliant fireball, pieces of it's hull sailing through the open space. Ten more clusters took its place.

One Phoenix warped out, having sustained heavy hull damage, the other still plowing through multiple waves of fighters. A Titan from the Argon Federation crashed into another Kha'ak destroyer and wrapped around it as if it were a plastic bag.

Even as the Kha'ak and the other races suffered heavy casualties, the Kha'ak continued their slow crawl. The two battleships started to glow a bright white color, which fluctuated and spiraled over the hull. Out of their gaping maws fired a massive beam which merged in mid-space and struck the Teladi trading dock directly.

Rather than instantly disintegrate it, the dock spun wildly and was inadvertently pushed into the orbit of Nature's Profit, the planet in the sector. As it entered the atmosphere, it slowly burned into a flaming meteor which slammed into the ground, causing a dust cloud visible from space.

Now the real battle had begun. The Argon One warped in through the east gate, quickly followed by the rest of the Argon's defense force. The Teladi likewise warped in from the north, the few ships the Boron were willing to spare had already retreated. Even a few Xenon capital ships had noticed the disturbance and entered from the south, engaging both Kha'ak and Argon/Teladi forces.

Kha'ak ships quickly reassembled their fleet and converged at the center of the sector, blasting through anything standing in their way. The Xenon split their small force in half, regarding all three races as equal threats. The Kha'ak began their advance towards the Argon/Teladi fleet, only sparing a few destroyers for the Xenon. That was all they needed, the Xenon were quickly wiped out by superior Kyon firepower.

The two battleships began charging their super-weapons again, this time aiming at the two fleets of the Argon/Teladi force. An almost immediate response was the thinning out of the capital ships, remaining close enough to mount an effective attack but spread out enough to avoid shockwaves and the lasers.

The Kha'ak destroyers charged, the Argon charged, the Teladi split their fleet in two and took the Argon fleet's flanks. The Kha'ak met them at every turn, razing their divided fleet into shreds.

Three more capital ships warped through the north and east gates. One was the Phoenix that was now repaired and refitted, the others were two Colossus carriers filled to the brim with heavy fighters. The Argon and Teladi fleets retreated as the Kyon lasers raked their ships, forming as one to mount a final, desperate attack.

The Kha'ak battleships finished charging their lasers. They cut through the Argon ships like butter, the Teladi ships took it easier thanks to their superior shielding. Now only a few ships were left - the Colossus carriers, the two Phoenixes, the Argon One, and a collection of Ospreys and Centaurs.

The first carrier deployed all of it's Nova fighters, which were fitted with powerful Mass Drivers that could chew through the Kha'ak hull easily. The other deployed an escort wing that would guide the Novas to the weak point in the battleship's hull.

Here it was, the final stand, the last the Argon and Teladi could muster. The Boron were spread too thin to help, the Split didn't care, and the Paranid had no business with a Teladi sector. Even the Xenon didn't show any more interest - they would wait until the battle was over to destroy the victor.

The remaining Kha'ak fighters charged into the Nova fleet. Some crashed directly into the ships in a suicide run, others cut through them with the Kyon beams. The escort wing broke and defended the outnumbered fleet mercilessly, but they were no match. A quarter of the MD-toting Novas were ripped apart, but they were nearing their goal.

The battleships began to charge their lasers a third time. This would definitely make it's mark and take out the remaining capital ships.

A lone wing of six Novas broke from the main convoy and headed upwards to the underbelly of the first battleship. The remaining Novas split in two, one force heading towards the second battleship, the other staying and luring away the Kha'ak fighter swarm.

Kyon lasers burst to life as the defense mechanisms of the Kha'ak battleship activated, one Nova being shredded in a few hits, another breaking formation and spinning wildly out of control. A garbled transmission came to the squadron leader from the Argon One. "Good God, they're going to fire on us!"

The four remaining Novas dodged the incoming Kyon fire and raced along an exposed 'pipe' to what appeared to be the power core of the battleships. With all the firepower they could muster, they bore into the power core, one Nova lost to Kyon fire. Soon, the core exploded, wiping out the third Nova and sending the remaining two flying back with hull and shield both critically damaged. The Kha'ak battleship seemed to shut down, then splintered in half as the fragile hull broke apart from the inside.

The entire Kha'ak fleet went into disarray, fighters crashing into each other, destroyers attacking their own wingmen. The order was restored by the second battleship which continued to generate laser energy.

It fired. The Phoenixes were blown to bits, and the remaining Teladi barely escaped with their lives.

The captain of one of the carriers spoke up. "We've got to get the hell out of here before it fires again!"

"That won't be necessary, Argon."

A new fleet had warped into the sector. Even the Kha'ak stopped for a split second to take it in, and the Argon fleet stood in awe - were these the legendary Terran ships that were said to have come to the X Universe through the Earth gate?

There were three large ships, almost horse-shoe shaped, and tens of smaller ones which were obviously fighters. The Kha'ak split a section off their fleet to defend the flank, but the Odin carriers and Thor fighters ripped through them like they were nothing. The Kha'ak destroyers entered a globe formation around their remaining battleship, fighters filling the gaps between capital ships. A huge flash erupted inside the globe, and the battleship smoothly warped out of the system to whatever sector it came from. Then the destroyers and remaining fighters followed.

The Argon fleet had been devastated. The Argon One, a badly damaged Argon Titan, and the two Colossus carriers were all that remained. Only two Nova fighters had survived, one with the pilot dead inside, his guts floating in the null-g of his cockpit. The other fighter was fairly badly damaged but managed to dock into the Argon One.

The pilot was immediately greeted with cheers and applause, as the only pilot to destroy the battleship and survive.

"The Argon Federation expresses their infinite thanks and respect to you, Terrans. You are welcome in our space any time."

"We wouldn't want your pretty little faces plastered all over the sector, now, would we?"

"I suppose not. Have you anything else to do here?"

"Well, we only have a few minutes so we need to get out of here as soon as possible."

"I'm not sure I understand what minutes are."

"Hey, are you crazy? It measures time."

"We use a Zuran time measurement here."

"Well, whatever that Zuran thing is, we need to go. Farewell, Argon pilots."

With that, the Terrans exited the sector.

In an unnecessary coverup, the Teladi explained that the Kha'ak invasion of Scale Plate Green was an illusion created by a terrible accident in which the Teladi Trading dock burned up in orbit of Nature's Profit. In turn, massive amounts of space weed smoke was released into the planet's atmosphere, causing many people to believe that a massive battle had taken place. Every last bit of debris was cleaned up by the Teladi. There was no explanation offered as to what exactly happened on the Trading Dock.

The Argon, however, were less secretive. Yes, there was a Kha'ak invasion, but there were no Terrans, only the Kha'ak destroyers and Argon capital ships.

Twenty thousand Teladi and Argon lost their lives in that battle, many more in the destruction of the trading dock and the impact into Nature's Profit. A memorial service was held at the Goner Temple a wozura after the event to mourn the losses of those who were slain.

[bunk]

You should write a book few will buy.

[VioletRapture]

I'm not one for writing books myself, I have a friend that does that. Maybe you could compile all your thoughts into a book of your own.

But then again, blank books don't sell very well, do they?

[SOTS]

Ye gods, VR, will you stop insulting people! I'm sure you've proved your self-importance and general intellectual superiority over we lowly mortals, but just because someone doesn't write entire essays per post does not mean that they are stupid. English may not even be their main language.

Take X2-Eliah, for example. English is not his first language (he even has a disclaimer about it in his sig) and he writes better English than most English people I know, and he outshines all but a few Americans I've seen here.

So, if you want to post about a series of games that aren't for stupid, impatient 12 year olds, stop acting like one.

[VioletRapture]

Ye gods, VR, will you stop insulting people! I'm sure you've proved your self-importance and general intellectual superiority over we lowly mortals, but just because someone doesn't write entire essays per post does not mean that they are stupid. English may not even be their main language.

Take X2-Eliah, for example. English is not his first language (he even has a disclaimer about it in his sig) and he writes better English than most English people I know, and he outshines all but a few Americans I've seen here.

So, if you want to post about a series of games that aren't for stupid, impatient 12 year olds, stop acting like one.

He insulted me first.

[SOTS]

So, if you want to post about a series of games that aren't for stupid, impatient 12 year olds, stop acting like one.

How, exactly, did he insult you? I saw no derogatory, no pejorative.

He said you should write a book. The 'few will buy' could mean any number of things. That, because you are not a famous author, and have no critics or appraisals, no one will take notice. Or perhaps because it would be in the realm of fanfiction, alomost no one will pick it up. Perhaps it was a typo, and he meant to write 'quite a few.'

Unless you ask him yourself, you have no way of knowing that what he wrote was intended to offend, unlike so many of the replies you post.

[VioletRapture]

So, if you want to post about a series of games that aren't for stupid, impatient 12 year olds, stop acting like one.

How, exactly, did he insult you? I saw no derogatory, no pejorative.

He said you should write a book. The 'few will buy' could mean any number of things. That, because you are not a famous author, and have no critics or appraisals, no one will take notice. Or perhaps because it would be in the realm of fanfiction, alomost no one will pick it up. Perhaps it was a typo, and he meant to write 'quite a few.'

Unless you ask him yourself, you have no way of knowing that what he wrote was intended to offend, unlike so many of the replies you post.

He attacked me in another thread on this forum, it likely means the same thing.

It's like being stabbed with a needle. You don't know what's in it, so it's best to punch the injector in the face before you possibly die.

[SOTS]

'The pen is mightier than the sword' is not an idle expression.

Again, how do you know whatever was in that needle was intended to harm, without asking? Or at least waiting for a couple of minutes to see what happened before punching him in the face.

Simply asking what was meant by the action can save a lot of hassle.

To further use/murder your metaphor, whatever was in it may have been some kind of youth serum, extending your life into the infinite and warding off all illness and injury. Granted, it could also be a poison created to give your spleen sentience and make it eat your brain.

But ask first, and then start throwing punches, as necessary. Not the other way around.

Besides, you shouldn't be complaining about being attacked on these forums: you do it often enough to other people.

Ah, but of course. My mistake. They attacked you first.

[VioletRapture]

Ah, but of course. My mistake. They attacked you first.

Yes, I'm very glad you understand me. Now could we please get back on topic?

[SOTS]

You don't do sarcasm very well, do you?

My point was that rather than blame others for your words, you should look at ways you can avoid the situation completely by simply thinking how those words can be interpreted before you write them.

[snips]

I think someone needs to look at bunk's location then you would realise that his first language may not be english.

stick to your talent of writing good short stories of the x universe and stop insulting people.

this is a good short story, i enjoyed it.

[Syndrome]

Ok, firstly, nice short story. A good read. Your writing talents have been shown. (and I'm not trying to insult you)

Second, you need to work on your comunication skills in the forums. Always remember, if one person bags you then it's not like they have friends on the forum who will agree with them just because they're friends. If they insult you, reason with them, if they become annoying, talk to a moderator. If you think I'm wrong, how come the other 200,000 people using the forums manage to get along.

[Switch 9]

SHUT UP! EVERYONE!

I liked the story, it was an interesting diversion. And by the way to everyone bitching with VR, and VR, remember that you can be banned for flaming. What you were doing there was flaming. So shut up, and take your problems onto Xfire.